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This  series  of  Scandinavian  Classics  is  published 
by  The  American-Scandinavian  Foundation  in  the 
belief  that  greater  familiarity  with  the  chief  literary 
monuments  of  the  North  will  help  Americans  to  a 
better  understanding  of  Scandinavians,  and  thus  serve 
to  stimulate  their  sympathetic  cooperation  to  good  ends 


SCANDINAVIAN  CLASSICS 
VOLUME  XIV 

THE  FAMILY  AT  GILJE 

BY 

JONAS  LIE 


ESTABLISHED  BY 
NIELS  POULSON 


THE  FAMILY  AT  GILJE 

A   DOMESTIC  STORY  OF  THE  FORTIES 

BY 

JONAS  LIE 

Jt 

TRANSLATED  FROM  THE  NORWEGIAN 

BY  SAMUEL  COFFIN  EASTMAN 

WITH   AN  INTRODUCTION  BY  JULIUS  EMIL  OLSON 


NEW  YORK 

THE  AMERICAN-SCANDINAVIAN   FOUNDATION 

LONDON  :    HUMPHREY   MILFORD 

OXFORD  UNIVERSITY   PRESS 

1920 


Copyright,  ig20,  by  The  '^American-Scandinavian  Foundation 


T>.  S.  Updi^  .  The  ^Merrymount  Tress  ■  'Boston  •  U.  S.^A. 


Preface 

To  the  Honorable  Samuel  Coffin  Eastman,  of  Con- 
cord, New  Hampshire,  belongs  the  credit  of  having 
given  American  readers  an  English  version  of  'The 
Family  at  Gilje  while  the  author  was  still  at  the 
height  of  his  creative  activity.  Mr.  Eastman,  who 
was  a  lawyer  by  profession,  was  a  man  of  varied 
interests,  the  author  of  a  White  Mountain  Guide 
which  has  gone  through  numerous  editions,  and 
the  translator  of  Brandes's  Impressions  of  Russia  and 
Poland.  He  was  familiar  with  the  translations  by 
Mrs.  Ole  Bull  of  Jonas  Lie's  The  Pilot  and  His 
JVife  and  The  Good  Ship  Future.  The  Family  at  Gilje 
was  called  to  his  attention  by  Miss  Amalia  Krohg, 
of  Christiania,  and  it  charmed  him  so  much  that 
he  rendered  it  into  English.  The  translation  ap- 
peared serially  in  the  Concord  magazine.  The  Gran- 
ite Monthly^  in  1 894,  and  was  illustrated  with  views 
from  Valders,  the  mountain  district  where  the  scene 
of  the  story  is  laid. 

When  the  Committee  on  Publications  decided 
to  include  The  Family  at  Gilje  in  the  Scandinavian 
Classics,  their  attention  was  called  to  Mr.  East- 
man's excellent  version,  and  permission  was  secured 
to  reprint  it.  The  translator  consented  to  a  revision 
of  his  text  so  as  to  make  it  conform  to  the  general 


vi  PREFACE 

style  of  the  Classics  and  to  interpret  more  accu- 
rately some  of  the  Norwegian  idioms.  His  death, 
in  191 7,  prevented  his  cooperation  in  the  work  of 
revision,  to  which,  nevertheless,  he  had  given  his 

cordial  assent. 

Hanna  Astrup  Larsen 


Introduction 

THE  story  of  Jonas  Lie's  life,  even  though 
told  in  brief,  will  readily  yield  the  key  to  the 
various  phases  of  his  strange  authorship.  No  one 
of  his  long  list  of  books  is  an  adequate  index  of  his 
powers.  The  special  character  of  each  is  the  out- 
growth of  peculiar  traits  of  natural  endowment  in 
conjunction  with  definite  facts  and  experiences  of 
his  life.  Some  of  the  features  of  his  genius  seem 
strangely  incongruous — as  different  as  day  and 
night.  These  features  are  clearly  reflected  in  his  writ- 
ings. By  critics  he  has  been  variously  proclaimed 
"the  poet  of  Nordland,"  "the  novelist  of  the  sea," 
or  "  the  novelist  of  Norwegian  homes,"  and  is  com- 
monly classed  as  a  realist.  His  reputation  and  great 
popularity  rest  mainly  upon  his  realistic  novels.  In 
this  field  he  ranks  as  one  of  the  leading  portrayers 
of  character  and  social  conditions  in  modern  Norse 
literature;  and  of  his  realism  The  Family  at  Gilje  is 
possibly  the  best  illustration. 

Yet  there  was  much  more  than  an  ingenuous 
realist  in  Lie.'  He  was  also  a  fascinating  mystic;  a 
teller  of  fantastic  stories,  profoundly  symbolic  in 
character;  a  great  myth-making  raconteur  of  gro- 
tesque tales  that  have  a  distinct  folkloristic  flavor, 

*  Pronounced  as  Lee  in  English, 


viii  INTRODUCTION 

particularly  as  found  in  his  two  volumes  entitled 
I'rold.  This  part  of  his  authorship,  though  it  does 
not  bulk  large,  and,  naturally  enough,  has  not  been 
fathomed  by  the  general  reader,  is  nevertheless  a 
very  important  part,  and  is  surely  the  most  original 
and  poetic.  It  appears  in  a  definite  though  restrained 
form  as  mystic  romanticism  in  his  first  prose  work. 
Second  Sights  and  then  scarcely  a  trace  of  it  is  seen 
until  it  bursts  forth,  twenty  years  later,  with  the 
vigor  of  long-repressed  passion. 

It  would  therefore  be  unfair  to  judge  Jonas  Lie 
by  the  single  novel  in  hand — as  unfair  as  it  would 
be  to  judge  Ibsen  by  a  single  one  of  his  social  dra- 
mas—  The  Pillars  of  Society,  for  instance.  In  Ibsen 
the  imaginative  power  displayed  in  Brand a.nd  Peer 
Gynt  did  not  in  the  social  dramas  reassert  itself  in 
anything  but  an  adumbration  of  the  abandon  and 
exuberance  of  the  dramatic  poems.  In  Lie,  how- 
ever, the  mystic  and  myth-maker  reappeared  with 
strength  redoubled.  Erik  Lie,  in  a  book  on  his 
father's  life  {Oplevelser),  says  with  reference  to  this : 
"If  it  had  been  given  to  Jonas  Lie  to  continue  his 
authorship  in  his  last  years,  his  Nordland  nature 
would  surely  —  such  is  my  belief — more  and  more 
have  asserted  itself,  and  he  would  have  dived  down 
into  the  misty  world  of  the  subconscious,  where  his 
near-sighted  eyes  saw  so  clearly,  and  whence  his 


INTRODUCTION  ix 

first  works  sprang  up  like  fantastic  plants  on  the 
bottom  of  the  sea."  There  is  not  a  trace  or  an  ink- 
ling of  this  clairvoyant  power  in  The  Family  at  Gilje. 
Its  excellences  are  of  a  distinctly  different  nature. 
This  much,  then,  must  be  said  to  warn  the  reader 
against  a  too  hasty  appraisement  of  Lie's  genius — 
his  power,  range,  and  vision — on  the  basis  of  a  sin- 
gle novel.  Let  him  be  assured  that  Jonas  Lie  stands 
worthily  by  the  side  of  Ibsen  and  Bjornson  both  as 
a  creative  author  and  as  a  personality.  He  was  of 
their  generation,  knew  them  both  well  as  young 
men  and  old,  and  was  a  loyal  friend  to  both,  as  they 
were  to  him.  He  even  knew  Bjornson  well  enough 
in  the  early  sixties  to  give  him  pointed  advice  on 
his  authorship.  Though  he  seems  never  to  have 
taken  such  liberties  with  Ibsen,  —  as  Bjornson  so 
categorically  did  during  the  same  decade,  —  he  did 
lend  him  a  helping  hand  by  paying  him  in  advance 
for  the  dramatic  poem,  Lovers  Comedy^  published  in 
a  periodical  owned  by  Lie.  It  is  interesting  to  note 
that  Ibsen,  so  punctilious  in  later  years,  was  aggra- 
vatingly  slow  in  forwarding  the  final  batch  of  manu- 
script. As  a  last  resource,  Lie  threatened  to  com- 
plete the  drama  himself  Later  in  life,  during  sum- 
mer sojourns  in  the  Bavarian  Alps,  they  saw  much 
of  each  other.  In  one  of  his  social  dramas.  An  Enemy 
of  the  People^  Ibsen  used  Lie,  together  with  traits  of 


X  INTRODUCTION 

Bjornson  and  Apothecary  Thaulow  (father  of  the 
painter)  as  a  model  for  the  genial  hero,  Dr.  Stock- 
mann.  Both  Ibsen  and  Bjornson  were  generous  in 
their  praise  of  Lie's  many  fine  qualities.  In  the  six- 
ties, before  Lie  had  written  a  single  novel,  Bjornson, 
in  an  address  at  Tromso,  in  Arctic  Norway,  where 
Lie  had  spent  several  years  of  his  boyhood,  said 
some  striking  things  about  Lie's  creative  powers. 
On  a  later  occasion  he  referred  to  him  as  "the  great 
vague  possibility,"  and  after  Lie's  death,  in  a  letter 
to  the  family,  he  said :  "  I  have  so  much  to  thank 
him  for.  In  the  luxuriant  wealth  of  my  youth  he  was 
the  purest  in  heart,  the  richest  in  fancy."  Bjornson 
understood  from  the  first  the  clairvoyant  mysticism 
in  Lie,  and  profited  by  it.  In  other  words,  a  man 
who  could  interest  men  like  Ibsen  and  Bjornson 
and  maintain  their  admiration  and  respect  for  half 
a  century  could  do  so  only  by  dint  of  rare  personal 
powers. 

Although  he  did  not  begin  his  literary  career 
until  he  was  getting  on  toward  forty,  at  which  age 
both  Ibsen  and  Bjornson  had  won  fame,  Lie,  it  may 
fairly  be  said,  eventually  overtook  them  in  the  favor 
of  the  Scandinavian  reading  public,  and  it  is  not 
unlikely  that  with  this  public  he  will  hold  his  own 
in  comparison  with  them.  This  is  surely  due  to  the 
realism  of  his  social  novels.  Though  he  at  times 


INTRODUCTION  xi 

roamed  far  afield  from  the  standards  of  realism,  as 
has  been  indicated,  he  never  was  identified  with  ex- 
tremists in  any  literary  school,  despite  the  sweep- 
ing force  of  popular  currents.  As  a  realist  he  was 
a  patient  plodder,  following  his  own  instincts,  and 
in  the  course  of  long  years  he  hammered  out  a  lit- 
erary vehicle  distinctly  his  own,  so  surcharged,  in 
fact,  with  the  idiosyncrasies  of  his  individuality  as  to 
make  it  most  difficult  to  recast  in  a  foreign  idiom. 

From  the  above  it  will  appear  that  Lie  was  an  in- 
teresting dual  personality.  Further  consideration  of 
his  life  will  show  that  he  was  both  romanticist,  or 
mystic,  and  realist  by  right  of  blood,  as  well  as 
through  environment  and  personal  experience. 

Scandinavian  romanticism  began  in  Denmark 
with  the  opening  of  the  nineteenth  century,  as  a  re- 
vival of  the  past,  the  exploitation  of  Northern  an- 
tiquities for  modern  literary  material.  In  Norway, 
a  generation  or  so  later,  romanticism  grew  out  of  an 
enthusiastic  study  of  popular  ballads  and  folk-lore 
stories  still  found  on  the  lips  of  the  peasantry.  In 
connection  with  this  there  developed  an  intense  in- 
terest in  rural  scenery  and  life  on  the  part  of  both 
artists  and  poets.  The  movement  continued  for  a 
generation,  until  the  early  seventies,  and  found  its 
best  conscious  literary  expression  in  Bjornson's 
peasant  idyls.  When  Jonas  Lie  had  resolved  to  be- 


A 


xii  INTRODUCTION 

come  an  author  (i  870),  there  was  one  region  of  ro- 
mantic inspiration  that  had  not  been  utilized.  This 
was  Nordland,  one  of  the  northerly  provinces  of 
Norway,  beyond  the  Arctic  Circle,  under  the  glory 
of  the  midnight  sun,  where,  however,  a  long  and 
sunless  winter  fostered  in  the  minds  of  the  inhab- 
itants a  brooding  melancholy  which  peopled  moun- 
tain and  sea,  nature's  every  nook  and  cranny,  with 
strange  and  awe-inspiring  creatures.  In  this  nature 
of  colossal  contrasts  Jonas  Lie  spent  several  years 
of  his  boyhood,  and  the  tremendous  impression  left 
on  his  sensitive  and  poetic  mind  are  very  evident 
in  his  first  novel,  Second  Sight  {Den  Fremsynte)^  also 
known  in  English  as  The  Visionary  and  The  Seer. 
This,  together  with  some  lesser  stories  that  fol- 
lowed, gave  the  Nordland  stamp  to  Lie's  earliest 
fiction — the  stamp  of  romanticism,  mysticism,  and 
clairvoyance.  The  effect  of  this  environment  was 
accentuated  by  powerful  innate  impulses,  for  his 
ancestral  heritage  reveals  a  double  strain,  to  which 
allusion  has  already  been  made.  On  his  father's  side 
there  were,  for  several  generations,  brains,  energy, 
and  good  sense,  with  a  predilection  for  law  and  ad- 
ministration. The  father  himself  was  a  country  ma- 
gistrate of  sterling  uprightness.  Here,  then,  plainly 
enough,  is  the  source  of  the  novelist's  realism,  as 
found,  for  example,  in   The  Family  at  Gilje,  but 


INTRODUCTION  xiii 

nothing  whatever  to  indicate  the  poet  and  romancer. 
These  surely  can  be  traced  to  the  mother,  who  was 
a  most  remarkable  woman,  born  in  one  of  the 
northern  provinces,  and,  as  Lie  himself  believed, 
with  either  Finnish  (?>.,  Lappic)  or  Gypsy  blood 
in  her  veins,  and  possibly  both.  Professor  Boye- 
sen,  in  Essays  on  Scandinavian  Literature^  says  of 
Lie's  mother:  "I  remember  well  this  black-eyed, 
eccentric  little  lady,  with  her  queer  ways  and  still 
more  extraordinary  conversation.  It  is  from  her  that 
Jonas  Lie  has  inherited  the  fantastic  strain  in  his 
blood,  the  strange  superstitious  terrors,  and  the 
luxuriant  wealth  of  color  which  he  lavished  upon 
his  first  novel,  'The  Man' of  Second  Sight.  She  was 
unusually  gifted  intellectually,  had  pronounced  lit- 
erary interests,  and  revealed  some  decided  clairvoy- 
ant qualities."  Lie  himself  said  of  her:  "There  was 
something  of  a  seer  in  her — something  that  re- 
minded one  of  spae-women  and  the  like."  "Im- 
agine," says  Arne  Garborg,'  in  his  book  on  Lie, 
"this  restless  blood  infused  into  the  strong,  sober, 
practical  nature  of  the  Lies :  what  should  come  of 
such  a  mixture  but  that  peculiar  combination  of 
reality  and  romanticism  that  we  know  by  the  name 

'  Arne  Garborg  is  one  of  Norway's  greatest  novelists.  He  is  also  a 
gifted  lyric  poet,  and  an  exceedingly  clever  controversialist.  Most  of 
his  works  are  written  in  LanJsmaal,  a  composite  of  the  peasant  dia- 
lects. His  biography  of  Lie  is  a  classic. 


xiv  INTRODUCTION 

of  Jonas  Lie,  the  poet  of  Finnish  magic  and  sor- 
cery— and  of  plain  reality."  In  Nordland,  where 
his  maternal  inheritance  had  its  source,  Lie  as  a  boy 
found  things  fit  to  satisfy  the  cravings  of  such  an 
imagination  as  the  Finn  in  him  possessed.  In  this 
Brobdingnagian  realm  he  heard  tales  and  legends 
of  Finnish  sorcery,  of  shipwrecks  caused  by  fierce 
water-bogies  {draugs)^  of  giant  trolls,  and  a  thou- 
sand other  demoniacal  creatures  of  morbid  popular 
fancy,  until  he  was  chilled  with  terror,  the  eflfects 
of  which  clung  to  him  for  life,  made  him  as  a  mature 
man  afraid  of  the  dark,  and  finally  cropped  out  in 
tales  of  weird  and  grotesque  imagery. 

These,  then,  are  the  fundamental  facts  that  are 
necessary  for  comprehension  of  the  duality  in  Lie's 
nature  and  authorship. 

Jonas  Lie  was  born  in  southern  Norway,  in  1833, 
and  at  the  age  of  five  removed  with  the  family  to 
Nordland.  His  life  as  an  author  began  in  1 870;  but 
between  these  dates  there  was  a  period  of  very  un- 
usual experiences.  His  vivid  imagination,  stirred  by 
the  witchery  of  life  in  Nordland,  made  the  prosy 
tasks  of  school  seem  direst  punishment.  He  was 
counted  a  dullard  and  an  incorrigible  mischief- 
maker.  At  the  age  of  thirteen  it  was  his  passion  to 
become  a  sailor. The  father,  at  his  wits*  end, compro- 


INTRODUCTION  xv 

mised  by  sending  him  to  a  naval  academy.  Here  he 
was  at  times  thought  mad  by  his  instructors,  who 
saw  something  of  his  semi-somnambulistic  antics. 
Near-sightedness,  however,  proved  an  obstacle  to 
his  continuance  in  this  path  to  maritime  glory, 
which  he  was  destined  to  win  by  a  different  route. 
After  an  awakening  experience  in  a  Bergen  school, 
where  an  eccentric  poet-pedagogue  thought  him  a 
"  lad  of  pairts,"  and  his  classmates  voted  him  a  prize 
liar  on  account  of  his  Nordland  stories,  he  took  a 
short  cut  to  the  university  at  Heltberg's  so-called 
Student  Factory  in  Christiania,  the  head-master  of 
which — a  prodigy  who  has  been  immortalized  in 
literature  by  both  Bjornson  and  Garborg  —  proved 
an  inspiring  and  fructifying  force  to  his  groping 
genius.  At  this  institution,  among  a  motley  horde 
of  country  bumpkins,  shipwrecked  city  talent,  and 
budding  genius,  he  found  Bjornson,  also  preparing 
for  the  university.  Both  were  profoundly  impressed 
by  the  genius  of  the  asthmatic  head-master  in  his 
dogskin  jacket,  who  led  his  young  barbarians  by 
forced  marches  through  the  Alpine  passes  of  Latin 
syntax  into  the  classic  domain  of  Livy  and  Horace. 
We  shall  see  that  he  came  to  Lie's  rescue  at  a  later 
period. 

Lie  entered  the  university  in  1851,  and  took  a 
degree  in  law  in  1858.  It  had  been  a  difficult  task 


xvi  INTRODUCTION 

for  him  to  decide  what  professional  study  to  pur- 
sue. He  thought  at  first  that  he  had  leanings  toward 
theology,  bought  the  necessary  books,  kept  them 
a  day,  then  exchanged  them  for  law  books,  after 
having  paid  a  brief  but  adequate  visit  to  the  clinical 
laboratory.  These  years  at  the  university,  when  a 
romantic  interest  in  everything  Norwegian  filled 
the  air  with  mystic  expectancy  of  great  things  to 
come  in  the  way  of  a  regenerated  Norway,  aroused 
Lie.  Association  with  Bjornson,  Ibsen,  Vinje,'  Nor- 
draak,^  and  a  score  of  other  gifted  young  men  was 
stimulating,  yet  he  did  not  become  a  disciple  or 
slavish  follower  of  any  of  these  more  vehement  na- 
tures. He  had  his  own  ideas,  and  was  boldly  inde- 
pendent when  occasion  demanded  it,  as  both  King 
Oscar  and  Bjornson  later  in  life  ascertained  to  their 
discomfort,  each  of  them  having  tried  in  vain  to 
make  the  "amiable"  author  conform  to  their  plans 
and  ideas.  Among  the  many  friends  that  Lie  made 
in  the  capital  city  during  his  university  days,  Bjorn- 
son became  the  most  intimate.  He  seems  from  the 
very  first  to  have  espied  the  artist  in  Lie,  and  did 


'  A  peasant  poet,  kindred  in  spirit  to  both  Burns  and  Heine. 
^  The  composer  of,  among  other  notable  things,  the  melody  to  BjOrn-  ' 
son's  well-known  national  song.  Before  his  death,  at  the  age  of  twenty- 
four,  he  had  given  Edvard  Grieg  an  electric  spark  from  the  dynamo 
of  his  Norse  enthusiasm,  which  fired  Grieg's  imagination,  and  made 
him  par  excellence  the  representative  of  Norse  melody. 


INTRODUCTION  xvii 

much  to  help  him  in  understanding  his  own  strange 
self.  It  had  begun  to  worry  Lie  that  his  friends 
thought  him  eccentric.  And  not  only  this :  the  mys- 
tic, superstitious,  magic-loving  Finn  in  his  nature 
often  frightened  him.  Hence  he  made  great  efforts 
to  counteract  his  tendency  to  fantastic  musing  and 
to  develop  his  paternal  heritage:  the  rationalist  and 
realist  in  himself.  For  this  purpose  the  determina- 
tion to  study  law  was  doubtless  a  wise  step.  But  his 
legal  studies  did  not  suppress  his  literary  yearn- 
ings, which  found  expression  in  verse  that  did  not 
at  first  go  beyond  a  circle  of  intimate  friends.  He 
saw  no  prospect  of  making  a  living  with  his  pen,  and 
so  entered  a  government  office — a  decision  hastily 
made  under  pressure  of  respect  for  his  stern  and 
practical  father,  who  had  announced  a  visit  to  the 
capital  city.  Nevertheless,  he  dreamed  of  becoming 
an  author,  and  began  contributing  poems  to  the 
daily  press.  They  seemed  labored  and  heavy,  and 
attracted  no  particular  attention.  On  the  other 
hand,  he  prepared  some  well-written  articles  on 
European  politics,  which  indicated  insight  and 
careful  thinking.  These  articles  made  such  a  favor- 
able impression  on  Bjornson  that  he  offered  to  se- 
cure him  the  editorship  of  a  Christiania  daily.  But 
Lie  was  unwilling.  He  had  made  arrangements  to 
practise  law  at  Kongsvinger,  not  far  from  the  cap- 


xviii  INTRODUCTION 

ital.  After  a  year's  work  in  the  new  field,  he  married 
a  cousin,  Thomasine  Lie,  to  whom  he  had  long  been 
betrothed.  Together  they  had  planned  that  he  was 
to  be  an  author,  and  his  hasty  decision  to  become 
a  lawyer  was  a  severe  shock  to  her.  From  the  begin- 
ning she  had  faith  in  his  literary  possibilities ;  and 
it  was  evidently  her  steady  hand  on  the  rudder, 
throughout  a  long  life,  that  guided  the  bark  of  his 
genius  through  many  dangerous  reefs.  But  for  her 
good  sense  and  loving  loyalty,  there  would  prob- 
ably not  have  been  a  Jonas  Lie  in  Norwegian  lit- 
erature. He  often  remarked  that  her  name  might 
well  appear  on  the  title-page  of  most  of  his  books. 
In  this  most  interesting  partnership,  his  was  the 
creative  spirit,  hers  the  practical  guiding  hand. 

Lie's  new  home  was  in  the  heart  of  a  rich  timber 
district,  which  at  that  time  was  at  the  high  tide  of 
a  tremendous  business  boom.  Here  he  achieved  im- 
mediate success  as  a  lawyer.  Moreover,  through  an 
influential  friend,  he  became  the  financial  agent  of 
two  banking  houses  in  the  capital.  This  gave  him 
the  opportunity — and  he  had  the  necessary  cour- 
age—  to  take  a  hand  in  bold  business  enterprises 
on  a  large  scale.  He  prospered;  the  future  seemed 
roseate;  he  began  to  dream  of  such  affluence  as  to 
enable  him  to  devote  himself  to  literature.  Mean- 
while he  wrote  verses  for  all  manner  of  occasions, 


INTRODUCTION  xix 

and  even  published  a  volume  of  these  poems  (i  866). 
Both  he  and  his  wife  had  unusual  social  qualifica- 
tions. She  was  a  fine  musician,  a  woman  of  character 
and  much  intellectual  force,  and  a  most  competent 
housewife.  In  this  home  of  culture  many  prominent 
men  were  entertained — first  of  all,  Ole  Bull,  whom 
Lie  adored.  Mighty  schemes  for  the  glorification 
of  Mother  Norway  were  discussed  as  these  two 
"visionaries"  sat  brewing  their  toddy.  Bjornson, 
too,  was  often  there,  and  Sverdrup,  the  statesman. 
Meanwhile  clouds  ominous  of  disaster  appeared 
on  the  commercial  horizon.  The  period  1865-68 
witnessed  the  greatest  financial  panic  that  Norway 
had  ever  experienced.  Lie  had  forebodings  of  a 
catastrophe,  but  too  late  to  save  himself  He  had 
been  lavish  with  his  signature,  and  was  tremen- 
dously involved.  The  crash  meant  more  than  life 
and  death  to  him.  It  was  a  matter  of  honor,  integ- 
rity, conscience.  He  lost  everything,  and  was  in 
debt  to  the  extent  of  over  $200,000.  Lie,  the  lawyer, 
was  ruined.  He  resolved  to  return  to  literature,  for 
instinct  urged  him  with  "almost  explosive  force," 
to  use  his  own  phrase.  As  for  his  financial  obliga- 
tions, he  made  a  monumental  resolution,  as  did 
Walter  Scott  in  a  similar  predicament,  to  pay  every 
dollar  through  his  authorship;  and  for  years  he 
dropped  every  penny  that  he  did  not  absolutely 


XX  INTRODUCTION 

need  into  that  abyss  of  debt.  Friends  finally  con- 
vinced him  of  the  hopelessness  of  his  purpose.  With 
what  a  heavy  heart  Lie  carried  the  tale  of  his  bank- 
ruptcy to  his  faithful  wife  several  of  his  novels  tes- 
tify. Financial  crashes  play  no  small  part  in  his 
writings,  and  the  pathetic  force  with  which  these 
situations  are  handled  sounds  a  distinctly  personal 
note. 

With  wife  and  children  Lie  returned  to  Chris- 
tiania  in  the  autumn  of  1868 — empty-handed. 
How  he  managed  to  keep  his  head  above  water  by 
the  aid  of  loyal  friends  like  Bjornson,  Sverdrup, 
whose  private  secretary  he  was  for  a  time,  and  old 
Heltberg,  of  the  Student  Factory,  who  came  to 
engage  him  as  a  teacher  of  rhetoric  and  composi- 
tion, is  an  interesting  story  which  need  not  be  told 
here.  But  through  all  his  trials  one  determination 
was  fixed  and  inflexible:  he  would  make  literature 
his  life-work.  It  was  not  long  before  his  thoughts 
reverted  to  his  early  experiences  in  Nordland.  After 
several  years  of  subjection  to  the  stern  reality  of 
legal  and  commercial  enterprise,  the  Finn  was  again 
asserting  himself.  His  first  novel,  Second  Sight,  ^^^.s 
the  result.  He  read  it  to  his  wife;  she  thought  it 
magnificent,  but  later  applied  the  pruning-knife 
drastically.  Then  Bjornson  was  called  in.  He  con- 
curred in  the  wife's  opinion,  and  immediately  wrote 


INTRODUCTION  xxi 

the  great  Copenhagen  publisher,  Hegel,  pronounc- 
ing the  novel  a  "sea-mew"  that  would  fly  over  all 
the  Scandinavian  North,  and  urging  hasty  publica- 
tion. This  was  in  November,  1870.  By  Christmas 
the  book  was  in  the  shops.  In  large  part  it  purports 
to  be  the  autobiography  of  a  visionary  Nordlander, 
who  tells  of  his  beloved  home,  and  recounts  mar- 
vellous stories  of  the  Arctic  north ;  but  through  this 
bead-string  of  episodes  and  descriptions  there  is  in- 
terwoven a  pathetic  tale  of  love,  love  so  tender,  so 
delicate,  that  the  words  describing  it  seem  to  come 
tripping  on  tiptoe.  Unpromising  as  the  novel 
seems  in  the  beginning,  when  one  almost  expects 
a  study  in  the  pathology  of  second  sight,  it  never- 
theless develops  into  such  beauty  as  to  make  it  the 
Romeo  and  Juliet  of  Scandinavian  literature. 

Every  step  of  Jonas  Lie's  development  from  this 
first  novel  to  The  Family  at  Gilje  (i  883)  is  of  inter- 
est to  the  student  of  literature.  It  was  a  period  of 
hard  study,  careful,  conscientious  work,  and  high 
resolve  to  master  his  powers  and  to  utilize  his  va- 
ried experiences  for  literary  purposes,  in  order  to  be 
able  to  serve  Mother  Norway, —  for  one  must  never 
forget  the  intense  patriotic  ardor  of  all  Norway's 
great  writers,  artists,  and  musicians.  By  the  aid  of 
a  government  stipend.  Lie  was  enabled  to  visit 
Nordland  and  the  western  coast  to  promote  his  lit- 


xxu  INTRODUCTION 

erary  production,  and  soon  afterward  a  second  and 
larger  stipend  for  the  purpose  of  foreign  travel 
made  it  possible  for  him  to  visit  Rome,  the  Mecca 
of  all  Scandinavian  artists  and  literati  of  the  period. 
There  he  remained  more  than  three  years,  a  time  of 
fruitful  toil  and  stimulating  experience.  In  1872  he 
sent  home  two  books  relating  to  life  on  the  west- 
ern and  northern  coast,  'The  Good  Ship  Future^  and 
a  collection  of  short  stories. 

Lie  was  not  content,  however,  to  be  "  the  poet  of 
Nordland,"  as  he  at  once  had  been  named.  His 
ambition  was  to  be  more  national.  In  the  broader 
realms  of  literary  activity  the  giant  figures  of  Ibsen 
and  Bjornson  towered.  They  were  deep  in  the  prob- 
lems of  the  day.  How  could  he  become  national 
and  modern?  Instinct  led  him  on  in  paths  that  un- 
consciously he  had  already  trodden.  In  this  nation 
of  seafarers  he  was  the  first  in  modern  literature  to 
discover  the  coast-dwellers  and  to  portray  their 
struggles  on  the  sea.  His  first  book  contained  a  de- 
scription of  a  storm  in  northern  waters  that  makes 
the  reader  hold  his  breath.  In  the  volume  of  short 
stories,  which  in  their  scenes  sweep  along  the  west- 
ern coast,  and  in  The  Good  Ship  Future  as  well,  there 
was  a  distinct  odor  of  the  sea.  This  was  natural 
enough :  he  had  spent  his  early  years  in  Nordland 
and  in  Bergen,  the  centre  of  Norwegian  shipping, 


INTRODUCTION  xxiii 

and  he  loved  the  sea  passionately.  In  his  next  novel, 
The  Pilot  and  his  M^ife,  he  put  to  sea  with  sails 
hoisted  to,  the  top. 

The  critics  apparently  had  not  felt  the  sea-breezes 
in  his  first  books ;  but  in  the  last  there  blew  such 
a  lusty  gale  that  all,  both  critics  and  public,  sniffed 
its  fresh  and  salty  breath  with  keenest  relish.  The 
book  was  a  success,  which  his  previous  novel  had 
not  quite  been,  and  it  marks  the  beginning  of  Lie's 
sane  and  natural  realism  as  consciously  applied,  in 
its  main  problem,  to  a  modern  social  question,  mak- 
ing the  story,  in  its  essence,  a  novel  of  character, 
a  psychological  study  of  the  relation  of  man  and 
wife,  and  not  primarily  a  novel  of  adventure,  which 
assumption  gave  Lie  the  designation  "novelist  of 
the  sea."  The  success  of  the  book  brought  the  au- 
thor, in  1 874,  by  vote  of  the  Storting,  a  life  stipend 
known  as  a  "poet's  salary,"  which  recognition  put 
him  in  a  class  with  Ibsen  and  Bjornson.  The  great 
honor  seems  to  have  had  a  depressing  effect,  for 
Lie  now  scored  four  failures  in  succession.  He  was 
back  in  Norway,  trying  to  portray  social  phenomena 
of  the  capital  city.  The  reviewers  were  most  irritat- 
ing and  offensive,  and  he  felt  obliged  temporarily  to 
desert  the  field.  With  the  novel  Rut/and (iSSi),  he 
returned  to  the  sea.  This  story  surpasses  The  Pilot 
in  every  respect.  The  sea  is  described  with  the  fond- 


xxiv  INTRODUCTION 

ness  of  a  lover.  Like  l^he  Pilot,  it  also  deals  with 
a  problem  of  the  home,  but  what  chiefly  impressed 
the  public  in  reading  the  book  was  that  the  seamen, 
that  important  element  of  the  Norwegian  people, 
had  found  an  adequate  interpreter. 

His  next  book,  Forward  {Gaa  Pad)  (1882),  was 
likewise  a  maritime  novel,  with  panoramas  in  the 
life  of  the  fisher  folk  on  the  western  coast.  At  the 
same  time  it  forecast  the  new  age  of  industrial  devel- 
opment, and  revealed  growing  sympathy  and  in- 
creased understanding  in  matters  of  national  im- 
port. The  author  seems  to  have  become  convinced 
that  a  novelist,  too,  might  be  able  to  lend  a  hand  in 
paving  the  way  for  progress.  In  this  book  he  had  by 
his  vivid  portrayal  attacked  stagnation,  superstition, 
sluggishness,  and  had  proclaimed  the  new  gospel  of 
work,  activity,  enterprise.  It  had  been  begun  dur- 
ing the  latter  part  of  a  three  years'  sojourn  in  Ger- 
many. It  was  completed  in  Norway  during  the  au- 
tumn of  1 882,  after  which  Lie  took  up  his  abode  in 
Paris,  where  he  made  his  home  for  many  years. 

For  his  next  work,  ^^  Life  Prisoner  (1883),  Lie 
found  his  theme  in  the  slums  of  Christiania.  The 
treatment  was  not  naturalistic  enough  to  satisfy  the 
critics.  Lie  was  of  course  not  unmindful  of  the  new 
literary  movement,  but  he  possessed  then,  as  al- 
ways, sufficient  individual  momentum  to  carry  him 


INTRODUCTION  xxv 

through  the  ephemeral  phases  of  literary  fads.  His 
novels  are  not  barometers  of  the  prevailing  literary 
atmosphere.  He  believed  in  a  realism  of  true  nat- 
uralism, which  has  stood  the  test  of  time.  In  this  last 
work  he  brings  a  waif  of  modern  society  close  to  the 
hearts  of  his  readers,  and  needs  no  explosions  of 
pent-up  indignation,  no  spirit  of  class  hatred,  to 
make  his  readers  understand  this  unfortunate  pro- 
duct of  a  bad  environment.  In  his  reply  to  the  crit- 
ics, Lie  spoke  forcibly  on  the  new  literary  method, 
summing  up  his  views  in  these  words:  "The  main 
thing  is  to  picture  life  so  that  the  reader  sees,  hears, 
feels,  comprehends  it;  by  what  esthetic  means  this 
is  accomplished  must  be  the  author's  own  affair  in 
each  individual  case.  But  experience  has  shown  that 
of  all  methods  direct  ones  are  often  the  least  effec- 
tive. A  single  deft  touch  may  save  a  dozen  pages  of 
detailed  description."  Lie  was  not  a  student  of  the 
base ;  he  did  not  even  have  an  artistic  liking  for  evil. 
There  are  few  bad  characters  in  his  works. 

It  was  immediately  after  his  controversy  with  the 
critics,in  1883, that  The  Fami/y  at Giije  3.ppG3.red  — 
a  superb  illustration  of  Lie's  realism  of  naturalness. 
An  American  critic  has  said  of  good  realistic  writing 
that  it  does  not  so  much  arouse  the  pleasure  of  sur- 
prise as  that  of  recognition.  To  intelligent  Norwe- 
gian readers  of  the  day  that  was  strikingly  true  of 


xxvi  INTRODUCTION 

The  Family  at  Gilje.  To  many  readers  it  seemed  like 
living  their  lives  over  again.  This  may  not  be  a  very 
severe  test  of  the  greatness  of  a  novel.  Greatness  will 
depend  upon  other  things — the  breadth  and  depth 
of  its  humanity.  Another  point:  "The  right  under- 
standing of  men  and  women  leads  to  the  right  rela- 
tions of  men  and  women,  and  in  this  way  a  novel 
may  do  good"(F.  Marion  Crawford).  Most  of  Lie's 
novels  seem  to  have  been  written  with  this  object  in 
view.  It  is  evident  that  in  an  attempt  to  portray  life 
for  this  purpose,  social  and  other  questions  are  sure 
to  appear — not  thrust  into  the  reader's  face  as  a 
problem  demanding  that  he  take  sides,  but  brought 
to  his  attention  naturally,  as  such  things  ordinarily 
come  in  life.  Discreetly  done,  as  Lie  surely  could  do 
it,  this  may  be  a  most  effective  way  of  revolutioniz- 
ing conscience.  In  this  artistic  manner  Lie  was,  and 
no  doubt  consciously,  a  reformer.  To  be  sure,  this 
is  not  art  for  art's  sake;  it  is  something  more  human: 
art  engaged  in  the  pursuit  of  stimulating  noble  and 
healthful  thought  for  the  purpose  of  raising  the 
average  of  human  happiness. 

It  was  this  calm  and  restrained  realistic  method 
that  Lie  now  applied  in  a  series  of  novels  which 
succeeded  The  Family  at  Gilje.  As  in  this  work,  the 
scenes  are  usually  laid  in  a  preceding  generation, 
preferably  among  the  official  class  in  the  country. 


INTRODUCTION  xxvii 

In  these  homes,  which  Lie  knew  so  well,  we  feel  that 
we  are  with  real  and  natural  people  among  whom 
problems  are  not  discussed,  but  experienced.  Yet 
these  novels  were  not  so  conservative  as  they  seemed. 
They  had  persuasive  power  in  behalf  of  modern  ideas 
withrespectto  such  fundamental  things  as  marriage, 
home,  and  children.  There  was  even  something  of 
the  essence  of  social  dynamite  in  some  of  them.  The 
Family  at  Gilje  gave  the  champions  of  women  new 
arguments,  but   they   could   not  approve  of  the 
author's  advanced  sympathies  in  The  Commodore' s 
Daughters^  one  of  the  realistic  novels  which   now 
flowed  from  Lie's  pen  and  which  included :  A  Mael- 
strom (1884),  The  Commodore's  Daughters  (1885), 
A  Wedded  Life  {}%%%  MaisaJons{in%\  and  Evil 
Powers  (1890).  Suddenly  there  came  a  change  in 
his  literary  method,  seemingly   induced  by  some 
unpleasant  experience  with  good  friends.  He  had 
learned  that  the  conduct  of  the  best  of  men  is  often 
swayed  by  primal  instinct  rather  than  by  disciplined 
reason.  In  this  mood  he  reverted  to  the  trusty  Finn 
of  his  bosom  who  so  long  had  lain  dormant,  and 
let  him  discourse  on  life  and  human   nature.  He 
proved  voluble,  resourceful,  and  original.  The  result 
was  published  in  two  volumes  (189 1  and  1892),  en- 
titled Trold.  They  are,  in   part,  phantasmagorias 
charged  with  the  symbolism  of  Norse  legendary 


xxviii  INTRODUCTION 

lore,  where  trolls  are  the  personified  manifestation 
of  evil  forces  in  nature.  The  opening  sentence  of 
the  illuminating  introduction  says :  "  That  there  are 
trolls  in  human  beings  every  one  knows  who  has  an 
eye  for  that  sort  of  thing." 

In  the  most  characteristic  of  these  stories,  of 
which  there  are  a  dozen  in  each  volume,  Lie  has  per- 
sonified primal  instincts,  —  allegorized  some  of  the 
strange  facts  and  mystic  forces  of  nature,  man,  and 
society.  Others  are  in  lighter  vein  and  have  a  more 
human  cast,  being  mere  playful  satires  on  social 
phenomena.  They  form  a  marvellous  medley.  At 
first  it  seems  quite  impossible  to  believe  that  the 
author  of  'The  Family  at  Gilje  can  be  the  begetter 
of  things  so  fantastic  and  grotesque.  But  when  the 
reader  thinks  of  the  early  Nordland  stories,  he  un- 
derstands, and  then  feels  inclined  to  regret,  that  the 
Finn  had  so  long  lain  dormant.  One  is  tempted  to 
believe  that  a  little  of  the  troll  element  could  easily 
have  been  used  to  give  a  tinge  of  terror  to  his  calm 
realism ;  and  this  is  in  fact  what  he  has  done  most 
eflfectively  in  the  novel  Dyre  Rein  (1896),  which  in 
other  respects  much  resembles  The  Family  at  Gilje. 

After  the  publication  of  Trold^  Lie,  even  where 
he  does  not  introduce  troll  eflFects,  is  not  hesitant 
about  using  more  tragic  methods  and  more  dra- 
matic scenes  than  during  the  period  of  the  strictly 


INTRODUCTION  xxix 

realistic  novels.  There  is,  moreover,  a  decided  trend 
toward  a  wider  scope  and  more  cosmopolitan  aims, 
as  in  When  the  Iron  Curtain  Falls  (1901),  a  bolder 
symbolism,  as  in  Niobe  (^iSg^)  ^^^  i^  his  last  work, 
East  of  the  Sun,  West  of  the  Moon,  and  Beyond  the 
'lowers  of  Babylon  (1905),  in  which,  however,  as  the 
title  indicates,  the  story  is  top-heavy  with  symbol- 
ism. It  runs  parallel  with  the  main  narrative  as  an 
introduction  to  each  chapter.  The  whole  is  the  tale 
of  a  genius,  hampered  and  harassed  by  malicious 
trolls  in  human  guise  —  evidently  an  adumbration 
of  the  author's  own  personal  experience.  But  he  is, 
as  always,  charitable:  "Human  nature  is  so  com- 
plex!" 

In  other  words:  the  last  fifteen  years  of  Lie's 
authorship  reveal  him  in  full  possession  of  the  real- 
istic powers  of  the  preceding  period,  illuminated  by 
a  profound  comprehension  of  the  mystic  forces  of 
life  that  so  often  determine  human  fates. 

Like  Ibsen,  Lie  lived  abroad  for  many  years,  main- 
ly in  Paris,  but  usually  spending  his  summers  in 
the  Bavarian  Alps,  where  most  of  his  writing  was 
done.  There  were  too  many  distractions  in  Paris, 
where  his  home  was  a  centre  of  the  colony  of  Scan- 
dinavian artists  and  literary  workers.  In  the  sum- 
mer of  1893,  after  an  absence  of  ten  years,  he  felt 


XXX  INTRODUCTION 

the  need  of  visiting  Norway  again.  An  intense  feel- 
ing of  homesickness  had  seized  him,  as  the  follow- 
ing incident  will  indicate.  He  had  called  on  a  Nor- 
wegian family  in  Paris  who  had  just  received  a  plant 
from  Norway  in  Norwegian  earth.  "Thinking him- 
self unobserved,"  one  of  his  daughters  tells,  "I  saw 
him  turn  from  the  company,  take  a  pinch  of  that 
earth  and  put  it  to  his  mouth.  Whether  he  kissed 
it  or  ate  it  I  do  not  know.  But  he  looked  very  sol- 
emn." 

In  Norway  he  was  received  most  cordially.  On 
the  occasion  of  his  sixtieth  birthday,  Brandes  pro- 
claimed him  "the  most  amiable  of  geniuses."  He 
was  interviewed,  banqueted,  and  serenaded  almost 
to  distraction,  and  was  glad  to  get  back  to  Paris, 
happy,  however,  in  having  experienced  the  touching 
devotion  of  his  countrymen.  A  decade  of  arduous 
toil  followed,  after  which  he  began  to  make  plans 
for  returning  to  Norway  to  spend  the  last  years  of 
his  life.  A  cozy  home  was  built  at  Fredriksvaern,  on 
the  southern  coast,  and  in  1906  the  family  took 
possession  of  it.  The  next  year,  however,  his  faith- 
ful wife,  the  guardian  of  his  genius,  passed  away. 
Dependent  upon  her  companionship  and  soHcitous 
care,  he  did  not  long  survive  her.  He  died  July  5, 
1908. 

The  Norwegian  Storting  took  fitting  cognizance 


INTRODUCTION  xxxi 

of  his  death,  and,  as  had  been  done  at  Ibsen's  de- 
mise, decreed  that  interment  should  be  made  at  the 
expense  of  the  State. 

"  Blessed  are  the  merciful,"  said  the  pastor  at  his 
bier. 

"Be  merciful!"  is  the  sentiment  that  echoes  and 
reechoes  throughout  Jonas  Lie's  pages. 

Julius  E.  Olson 

The  University  of  Wisconsin 
February,  1920 


THE  FAMILY  AT  GILJE 


THE  FAMILY  AT  GILJE 

Chapter  I 

IT  was  a  clear,  cold  afternoon  in  the  mountain 
region.  The  air  lay  blue  with  the  frost,  with 
light  rose  tints  over  all  the  sharp  crests,  ravines, 
and  peaks,  which,  like  a  series  of  gigantic  drifts, 
tower  above  tower,  floated  up  towards  the  horizon. 
Below,  hills  and  wooded  mountain  slopes  shut  the 
region  in  with  white  walls,  constantly  narrower  and 
narrower,  nearer  and  nearer,  always  more  contract- 
ing. 

The  snow  was  late  this  year,  but  in  return,  now 
that  the  Christmas  season  had  come,  lay  so  heavy 
on  fir  and  spruce  that  it  bent  down  both  needles 
and  twigs.  The  groves  of  birches  stood  up  to  their 
waists  in  snow;  the  small  clusters  of  tile-roofed 
houses  of  the  district  were  half  buried,  with  snow- 
drifts pressing  down  over  the  roofs.  The  entrances 
to  the  farmyards  were  deeply  dug  paths,  from  which 
the  gate  and  fence  posts  stuck  up  here  and  there 
like  the  masts  of  sunken  boats. 

The  snow-plough  had  recently  gone  through  the 
highway,  and  on  the  steep  red-tiled  roof  of  the 
captain's  house  men  were  busy  shovelling  down  the 
great  frozen  snow-drifts,  which  hung  threatening 
over  the  ends  of  the  roof 

The  captain's  house  was  specially  prominent  in 


4  THE  FAMILY  AT  GILJE 

the  district.  It  was  unpainted  and  built  of  square 
logs,  like  the  greater  part  of  that  kind  of  houses  a 
generation  ago. 

Over  the  garden  fence  and  almost  up  under  the 
window-frames  lay  the  snow-drifts  with  tracks  of 
sleds  and  skis  in  their  icy  crust,  which  smoked  a 
little  in  the  frosty  north  wind  under  the  sun. 

It  was  the  same  cold,  disagreeable  north  wind 
which,  every  time  the  outer  door  was  opened,  blew 
against  the  kitchen  door  until  that  opened  too,  and, 
if  it  was  not  closed  again,  soon  after,  one  or  another 
door  on  the  next  floor, — and  that  made  the  captain 
come  down  from  his  office,  flushed  and  passionate, 
to  make  inquiries  and  fret  and  fume  over  the  whole 
house  as  to  who  had  gone  there  first  and  who  had 
gone  last.  He  could  never  understand  why  they  did 
not  keep  the  door  shut,  though  the  matter  was  most 
easily  to  be  understood, —  for  the  latch  was  old  and 
loose,  and  the  captain  would  never  spend  any  money 
on  the  smith  for  a  new  one. 

In  the  common  room  below,  between  the  sofa 
and  the  stove,  the  captain's  wife,  in  an  old  brown 
linsey-woolsey  dress,  sat  sewing.  She  had  a  tall, stifle 
figure,  and  a  strong,  but  gaunt,  dried-up  face,  and 
had  the  appearance  of  being  anxiously  occupied  at 
present  by  an  intricate  problem  —  the  possibility  of 
again  being  able  to  put  a  new  durable  patch  on  the 
seat  of  Jorgen's  trousers;  they  were  always  bottom- 
less—  almost  to  desperation. 


CHAPTER  I  5 

She  had  just  seized  the  opportunity  for  this,  while 
Jager  was  up  in  his  office,  and  the  children  were  gone 
to  the  post-office;  for  she  went  about  all  day  long 
like  a  horse  grinding  clay  in  a  brickyard. 

The  mahogany  sewing-table  inlaid  with  mother- 
of-pearl  and  several  different  kinds  of  wood,  which 
stood  open  before  her,  must  have  been  a  family 
heirloom ;  in  its  condition  of  faded  antiquity,  it  re- 
minded one  not  a  little  of  her,  and  in  any  event  did 
not  at  all  correspond  either  with  the  high-backed, 
rickety,  leather  armchair,  studded  with  brass  nails, 
in  which  she  sat,  nor  with  the  long  birchen  sofa  cov- 
ered with  green  linsey-woolsey,  which  stood  like  a 
solitary  deserted  land  against  the  wall,  and  seemed 
to  look  longingly  over  to  the  brown,  narrow  folding- 
table,  which,  with  its  leaves  let  down,  stood  equally 
solitary  and  abandoned  between  the  two  windows. 

The  brown  case  with  the  four  straight  legs  against 
the  farther  wall,  with  a  heap  of  papers,  books,  hats, 
and  the  spy-glass  upon  it,  was  an  old  clavichord, 
which,  with  great  trouble,  she  had  had  transported 
up  into  the  mountain  region,  out  of  the  effects  of 
her  home,  and  on  which  she  had  faithfully  practised 
with  her  children  the  same  pieces  which  she  herself 
had  learned. 

The  immense  every-day  room,  with  the  bare  tim- 
ber walls,  the  unpainted  sanded  floor,  and  the  small 
panes  with  short  curtains  fastened  up  in  the  mid- 
dle, was  in  its  whole  extent  extremely  scantily  fur- 


6  THE  FAMILY  AT  GILJE 

nished ;  it  was  half  a  mile  from  chair  to  chair,  and 
everything  had  a  rural  meagreness  such  as  one  could 
often  see  in  the  homes  of  officials  in  the  mountain 
districts  in  the  forties.  In  the  middle  of  the  inner 
wall,  before  the  great  white  fire-wall,  the  antique 
stove  with  the  Naes  iron-works  stamp  and  the 
knotty  wooden  logs  under  it  jutted  out  into  the 
room  like  a  mighty  giant.  Indeed,  nothing  less  than 
such  a  mass  of  iron  was  needed  to  succeed  in  warm- 
ing up  the  room ;  and  in  the  woods  of  the  captain's 
farm  there  was  plenty  of  fuel. 

Finally  abandoning  all  more  delicate  expedients 
for  the  trousers,  she  had  laid  on  a  great  patch  cov- 
ering everything,  and  was  now  sewing  zealously. 
The  afternoon  sun  was  still  shedding  a  pale  yellow 
light  in  the  window-frames;  it  was  so  still  in  the 
room  that  her  movements  in  sewing  were  almost 
audible,  and  a  spool  of  thread  which  fell  down 
caused  a  kind  of  echo. 

All  at  once  she  raised  herself  like  a  soldier  at  an 
order  and  gave  attention.  She  heard  her  husband's 
quick,  heavy  step  creaking  on  the  stairs. 

Was  it  the  outside  door  again? 

Captain  Jager,  a  red,  round,  and  stout  man  in  a 
threadbare  uniform  coat,  came  hastily  in,  puffing, 
with  the  still  wet  quill-pen  in  his  mouth;  Re  went 
straight  to  the  window. 

His  wife  merely  sewed  more  rapidly;  she  wished 


CHAPTER  I  7 

to  use  the  time,  and  also  prudently  to  assume  the 
defensive  against  what  might  come. 

He  breathed  on  the  frosty  pane  in  order  to  en- 
large the  part  that  could  be  seen  through.  "You  will 
see  there  is  something  by  the  mail.  The  children  are 
running  a  race  down  there  in  the  road, — they  are 
running  away  from  Jorgen  with  the  sled." 

The  needle  only  flew  still  faster. 

"Ah,  how  they  run! — Thinka  and  Thea.  But 
I nger- Johanna!  Come  here.  Ma,  and  see  how  she 
puts  down  her  feet — is  n't  it  as  if  she  was  dancing? 
Now  she  means  to  be  the  first  in,  and  so  she  will  be 
the  first,  that  I  promise  you.  It  is  no  story  when  I 
tell  you  that  the  lass  is  handsome.  Ma;  that  they 
all  see.  Ah,  come  and  look  how  she  gets  ahead  of 
Thinka!  Just  come  now.  Ma!" 

But  "  Ma"  did  not  stir.  The  needle  moved  with 
forced  nervous  haste.  The  captain's  wife  was  sewing 
a  race  with  what  was  coming;  it  was  even  possible 
that  she  might  get  the  last  of  the  patch  finished  be- 
fore they  entered,  and  just  now  the  sun  disappeared 
behind  the  mountain  crest;  they  were  short  days  it 
gave  them  up  there. 

The  steps  outside  were  taken  in  two  or  three 
leaps,  and  the  door  flew  open. 

Quite  right  —  Inger-Johanna. 

She  rushed  in  with  her  cloak  unfastened  and  cov- 
ered with  snow.  She  had  untied  the  strings  of  her 


8  THE  FAMILY  AT  GILJE 

hood  on  the  way  up  the  steps,  so  that  her  black  hair 
fell  down  in  confusion  over  her  hot  face.  Breathless, 
she  threw  her  flowered  Valders  mittens  on  a  chair. 
She  stood  a  moment  to  get  her  breath,  brushed  her 
hair  under  her  hood,  and  shouted  out : 

"An  order  for  post-horses  at  the  station,  for  Cap- 
tain Ronnow  and  Lieutenant  Mein.  The  horses  are 
to  be  here  atGilje  at  six  o'clock  to-morrow  morning. 
They  are  coming  here." 

"  Ronnow,  Ma ! "  roared  the  captain,  surprised ;  it 
was  one  of  the  comrades  of  his  youth. 

Now  the  others  also  came  storming  in  with  the 
details. 

The  mother's  pale  face,  with  its  marked  features 
and  smooth  black  hair  in  loops  down  over  her  cheeks 
in  front  of  her  cap,  assumed  a  somewhat  thought- 
ful, anxious  expression.  Should  the  veal  roast  be 
sacrificed  which  she  had  reserved  for  the  dean,  or 
the  pig  ?  The  latter  had  been  bought  from  the  north 
district,  and  was  fearfully  poor. 

"Well,  well,  I  bet  he  is  going  to  Stockholm," 
continued  the  captain,  meditatively  drumming  on 
the  window-frame.  "Adjutant,  perhaps;  they  would 
not  let  that  fellow  stay  out  there  in  the  West.  Do 
you  know.  Ma,  I  have  thought  of  something  of 
this  sort  ever  since  the  prince  had  so  much  to  do 
with  him  at  the  drill-ground.  I  often  said  to  him, 
*  Your  stories,  Ronnow,  will  make  your  fortune, — 
but  look  out  for  the  general,  he  knows  a  thing  or 


CHAPTER  I  9 

two.'  *Pooh!  that  goes  down  like  hot  cakes,'  said 
he.  And  it  looks  like  it  —  the  youngest  cap- 
tain ! " 

"The  prince — "  The  captain's  wife  was  just 
through  with  the  trousers,  and  rose  hastily.  Her 
meagre,  yellowish  face,  with  its  Roman  nose,  as- 
sumed a  resolute  expression:  she  decided  on  the 
fatted  calf. 

"  Inger-Johanna,  see  to  it  that  your  father  has 
his  Sunday  wig  on,"  she  exclaimed  hurriedly,  and 
hastened  out  into  the  kitchen. 

The  stove  in  the  best  room  was  soon  packed  full, 
and  glowing.  It  had  not  been  used  since  it  had  been 
rubbed  up  and  polished  with  blacking  last  spring, 
and  smoked  now  so  that  they  were  obliged  to  open 
door  and  windows  to  the  cold,  though  it  was  below 
zero. 

Great-Ola,  the  farm-hand,  had  been  busy  carry- 
ing large  armfuls  of  long  wood  into  the  kitchen,  and 
afterwards  with  brushing  the  captain's  old  uniform 
coat  with  snow  out  on  the  porch ;  it  must  not  look 
as  if  he  had  dressed  up. 

The  guest-chamber  was  made  ready,  with  the 
beds  turned  down,  and  the  fire  started,  so  that  the 
thin  stove  snapped,  and  the  flies  suddenly  woke  up 
and  buzzed  under  the  ceiling,  while  the  wainscot 
was  browned  outside  of  the  fire-wall  and  smelled  of 
paint.  Jorgen's  hair  was  wet  and  combed;  the  girls 
changed  their  aprons  to  be  ready  to  go  down  and 


10  THE  FAMILY  AT  GILJE 

greet  the  guests,  and  were  set  to  work  rolling  up 
pipe-lighters  for  the  card-table. 

They  kept  looking  out  as  long  as  the  twilight 
lasted,  both  from  the  first  and  second  story  win- 
dows, while  Great-Ola,  with  his  red  peaked  cap, 
made  a  path  in  the  snow  to  the  carriage-road  and 
the  steps. 

And  now,  when  it  was,  dark,  the  children  listened 
with  beating  hearts  for  the  slightest  sound  from 
the  road.  All  their  thoughts  and  longings  went  out 
towards  the  strange,  distant  world  which  so  rarely 
visited  them,  but  of  which  they  heard  so  much  that 
sounded  grand  and  marvellous. 

There  are  the  bells! 

But,  no;  Thinka  was  entirely  wrong. 

They  had  all  agreed  to  that  fact,  when  Inger- 
Johanna,  who  stood  in  the  dark  by  a  window  which 
she  held  a  little  open,  exclaimed,  "  But  there  they 
are! 

Quite  right.  They  could  hear  the  sleigh-bells,  as 
the  horse,  moving  by  fits  and  starts,  laboriously 
made  his  way  up  the  Gilje  hills. 

The  outside  door  was  opened,  and  Great-Ola 
stood  at  the  stairs,  holding  the  stable  lantern  with 
a  tallow  candle  in  it,  ready  to  receive  them. 

A  little  waiting,  and  the  bells  suddenly  sounded 
plainly  in  the  road  behind  the  wood-shed.  Now  you 
could  hear  the  snow  creaking  under  the  run- 
ners. 


CHAPTER  I  II 

The  captain  placed  the  candlestick  on  the  table 
in  the  hall,  the  floor  of  which  had  been  freshly 
scoured,  washed,  and  strewn  with  juniper.  He  went 
out  on  the  stairs,  while  the  children,  head  to  head, 
peeped  out  of  the  kitchen  door,  and  kept  Pasop, 
who  growled  and  fretted  behind  them,  from  rush- 
ing out  and  barking. 

"  Good-evening,  Ronnow !  Good-evening,  Lieu- 
tenant !  Welcome  to  Gilje ! "  said  the  captain  with 
his  strong,  cheerful  voice,  while  the  vehicle,  which 
at  the  last  post-house  was  honored  with  the  name 
of  double  sleigh,  swung  into  the  yard  and  up  to  the 
steps.  "You  are  elegantly  equipped,  I  see." 

"  Beastly  cold,  Peter, — beastly  cold,  Peter,"  came 
the  answer  from  the  tall  figure  wrapped  in  furs,  as 
he  threw  down  the  reins,  and,  now  a  little  stiff  in  his 
movements,  stepped  out  of  the  sleigh,  while  the 
steaming  horse  shook  himself  in  his  harness  so  that 
the  bells  rang  loudly.  "  I  believe  we  are  frozen  stiff. 
And  then  this  little  rat  we  have  for  a  horse  would 
not  go.  It  is  a  badger  dog  they  have  harnessed  in 
order  to  dig  our  way  through  the  snow-drifts.  How 
are  you,  Peter?  It  will  be  pleasant  to  get  into  your 
house.  Howgoes  it  ? "  he  concluded,upon  the  steps, 
shaking  the  captain's  hand.  "Bring  in  the  case  of 
bottles,  Lieutenant." 

While  the  two  gentlemen  took  off  their  furs  and 
travelling-boots  in  the  hall  and  paid  for  the  horse, 
and  Great-Ola  carried  the  trunk  up  to  the  guest- 


12  THE  FAMILY  AT  GILJE 

chamber,  an  odor  of  incense  diffused  itself  from  the 
large  room,  which  at  once  roused  Captain  Ronnow's 
cavalier  instinct  to  a  recollection  of  the  lady,  whom, 
in  the  joy  of  seeing  his  old  comrade  once  more, 
he  had  forgotten.  His  large,  stately  figure  stopped 
before  the  door,  and  he  adjusted  his  stock. 

"  Do  I  look  tolerably  well,  Peter,  so  I  can  prop- 
erly appear  before  your  wife.''"  he  said,  running  his 
hand  through  his  black  curly  hair. 

"Yfes,  yes,  fine  enough  —  devilish  fine-looking 
fellow,  Lieutenant.  —  If  you  please,  gentlemen. 
Captain  Ronnow  and  Lieutenant  Mein,  Ma,"  he 
said,  as  he  opened  the  door. 

The  mistress  of  the  house  rose  from  her  place  at 
the  table,  where  she  was  now  sitting  with  fine  white 
knitting-work.  She  greeted '  Captain  Ronnow  as 
heartily  as  her  stiff  figure  would  allow,  and  the 
lieutenant  somewhat  critically.  It  was  the  govern- 
or's sister  to  whom  the  salaam  was  made,  as  Cap- 
tain Ronnow  afterwards  expressed  it — an  old,  great 
family. 

She  disappeared  a  little  later  into  domestic  affairs, 
to  "get  them  something  for  supper." 

Captain  Ronnow  rubbed  his  hands  from  the  cold, 
wheeled  around  on  one  leg  on  the  floor,  and  thus 
placed  himself  with  his  back  to  the  stove.  "  I  tell 
you  we  are  frozen  stiff,  Peter,  —  but — Oh,  Lieu- 
tenant, bring  in  the  case  of  bottles." 

When  Lieutenant  Mein  came  in  again,  Ronnow 


CHAPTER  I  13 

took  a  sealed  bottle  with  a  label,  and  held  it,  swinging 
by  the  neck,  before  the  captain. 

"  Look  at  it,  Peter  Jager!  Look  well  at  it!"  and 
he  moved  over  towards  his  friend.  "  Genuine  arrack 
from  Atschin  in  hither — farther — East — or  West 
India.  I  present  it  to  you.  May  it  melt  your  heart, 
Peter  Jager!" 

"Hot  water  and  sugar.  Ma!"  shouted  the  cap- 
tain out  into  the  kitchen, "  then  we  shall  soon  know 
whether  you  only  mean  to  deceive  us  simple  coun- 
try folks  with  stories.  And  out  with  the  whist-table 
till  we  have  supper !  We  can  play  three-handed 
whist  with  a  dummy." 

"Brrr-rr-whew,  what  kind  of  stuff  is  it  you  Ve 
got  in  your  tobacco  box,  Jager  ? "  said  Captain  Ron- 
now,  who  was  filling  his  pipe  at  it;  "powder,  sneez- 
ing powder,  I  believe !  Smell  it.  Lieutenant.  It  must 
be  tansy  from  the  nursery." 

"  Tideman's  three  crown,  fellow !  We  can't  en- 
dure your  leaf  tobacco  and  Virginia  up  here  in  the 
mountain  districts,"  came  from  Jager,  who  was  pull- 
ing out  and  opening  the  card-table.  "  Only  look  at 
the  next  box  under  the  lead  cover,  and  you  will  find 
some  cut-leaf  tobacco,  Bremen  leaf,  as  black  and 
high  flavored  as  you  want.  Up  here  it  is  only  to  the 
goats  that  we  can  offer  that  kind,  and  to  the  folk 
who  come  from  Bergen;  they  use  strong  tobacco 
there  to  dry  out  the  wet  fog." 

The  door  opened,  and  the  three  girls  and  their 


14  THE  FAMILY  AT  GILJE 

little  brother  came  in,  carrying  the  tray  with  the 
glasses  and  the  jug  of  hot  water,  which  task  they 
seemed  to  have  apportioned  among  themselves 
according  to  the  rules  for  the  procession  at  the 
Duke ofMarlborough's  funeral,  where, as  is  known, 
the  fourth  one  carried  nothing. 

The  tall,  blond  Kathinka  marched  at  the  head 
with  the  tray  and  glasses  with  the  clinking  tea- 
spoons in  them.  She  attempted  the  feat  of  curtsey- 
ing, while  she  was  carrying  the  tray,  and  blushed 
red  when  it  was  ready  to  slip,  and  the  lieutenant 
was  obliged  to  take  hold  of  it  to  steady  it. 

He  immediately  noticed  the  next  oldest,  a  bru- 
nette with  long  eyelashes,  who  was  coming  with  the 
smoking  water-jug  on  a  plate,  while  the  youngest, 
Thea,  was  immediately  behind  her  with  the  sugar- 
bowl. 

"  But,  my  dear  Peter  Jager,"  exclaimed  Ronnow, 
astonished  at  the  appearance  of  his  friend's  almost 
grown-up  daughters, "when  have  you  picked  up  all 
this  ?  You  wrote  once  about  some  girls, — and  a  boy 
who  was  to  be  baptized." 

At  the  same  moment  Jorgen  came  boldly  for- 
ward, strutting  over  the  floor,  and  made  his  best 
bow,  while  he  pulled  his  bristly  yellow  locks  instead 
of  his  cap. 

"What  is  your  name?" 

"Jorgen  Winnecken  von  Zittow  Jager." 

"  That  was  heavy !  You  are  a  perfect  mountain 


CHAPTER  I  15 

boy,  are  you  not  ?  Let  me  see  you  kick  as  high  as 
your  name." 

"No,  but  as  high  as  my  cap,"  answered  Jorgen, 
going  back  on  the  floor  and  turning  a  cart-wheel. 

"Bold  fellow,  that  Jorgen!"  And  with  that,  as 
Jorgen  had  done  his  part,  he  stepped  back  into  ob- 
scurity. But  while  the  gentlemen  were  pouring  out 
the  arrack  punch  at  the  folding-table,  he  kept  his 
eyes  uninterruptedly  fastened  on  Lieutenant  Mein. 
It  was  the  lieutenant's  regularly  trimmed  black 
moustache,  which  seemed  to  him  like  bits  that  he 
had  not  got  into  his  mouth  properly. 

"Oh,  here,  my  girl!"  said  Ronnow,  turning  to 
one  of  the  daughters,  who  stood  by  his  side  while 
he  was  putting  some  sugar  into  the  steaming  glass, 
"what  is  your  name?" 

"  Inger-Johanna." 

"Yes,  listen" — he  spoke  without  seeing  any- 
thing else  than  the  arm  he  touched  to  call  her  at- 
tention. "Listen,  my  little  Inger-Johanna!  In  the 
breast  pocket  of  my  fur  coat  out  in  the  hall  there 
are  two  lemons  —  I  didn't  believe  that  fruit  grew 
up  here  in  the  mountains,  Peter!  —  two  lemons." 

"No,  let  me!  Pardon  me!"  and  the  lieutenant 
flew  gallantly. 

Captain  Ronnow  looked  up,  astonished.  The 
dark,  thin  girl,  in  the  outgrown  dress  which  hung 
about  her  legs,  and  the  three  thick,  heavy,  black 
cables,  braided  closely  for  the  occasion,  hanging 


i6  THE  FAMILY  AT  GILJE 

down  her  back,  stood  distinct  in  the  light  before 
him.  Her  neck  rose,  delicately  shaped  and  daz- 
zlingly  fresh,  from  the  blue,  slightly  low-cut,  lin- 
sey-woolsey dress,  and  carried  her  head  proudly, 
with  a  sort  of  swan-like  curve. 

The  captain  grasped  at  once  why  the  lieutenant 
was  so  alert. 

"Bombs  and  grenades,  Peter!"  he  exclaimed. 

"Do  you  hear  that.  Ma?"  the  captain  grunted 
slyly. 

"Up  here  among  the  peasants  the  children — 
more 's  the  pity — grow  up  without  any  other  man- 
ners than  those  that  they  learn  of  the  servants," 
sighed  the  mother.  "Don't  stand  so  bent  over, 
Thinka,  straighten  up." 

Thinka  straightened  up  her  overgrown  blond 
figure  and  tried  to  smile.  She  had  the  difficult  task 
of  hiding  a  plaster  on  one  side  of  her  chin,  where 
a  day  or  two  before  she  had  fallen  down  through 
the  cellar  trap-door  in  the  kitchen. 

Soon  the  three  gentlemen  sat  comfortably  at  their 
cards,  each  one  smoking  his  pipe  and  with  a  glass  of 
hot  arrack  punch  by  his  side.  Two  moulded  tallow 
candles  in  tall  brass  candlesticks  stood  on  the  card- 
table  and  two  on  the  folding-table;  they  illuminated 
just  enough  so  that  you  could  seethe  almanac,  which 
hung  down  by  a  piece  of  twine  from  a  nail  under 
the  looking-glass,  and  a  part  of  the  lady's  tall  form 
and  countenance,  while  she  sat  knitting  in  her  frilled 


CHAPTER  I  17 

cap.  In  the  darkness  of  the  room  the  chairs  farthest 
off  by  the  stove  could  hardly  be  distinguished  from 
the  kitchen  door — from  which  now  and  then  came 
the  hissing  of  the  roasting  meat. 

"Three  tricks,  as  true  as  I  live  —  three  tricks, 
and  by  those  cards ! "  exclaimed  Captain  Ronnow, 
eager  in  the  game. 

"Thanks,  thanks,"  turning  to  Inger-Johanna 
who  brought  a  lighted  paper-lighter  to  his  expir- 
ing pipe.  "Th-a-nks"  —  he  continued,  drawing  in 
the  smoke  and  puffing  it  out,  his  observant  eyes 
again  being  attracted  by  her.  Her  expression  was  so 
bright,  the  great  dark  eyes  moving  to  and  fro  under 
her  eyebrows  like  dark  drops,  while  she  stood  fol- 
lowing the  cards. 

"What  is  your  name,  once  more,  my  girl?"  he 
asked  absently. 

"  Inger-Johanna,"  she  replied  with  a  certain  hu- 
mor; she  avoided  looking  at  him. 

"Yes,  yes. — Now  it  is  my  turn  to  deal!  Your 
daughter  puts  a  bee  in  my  bonnet,  madam.  I  should 
like  to  take  her  with  me  to  Christiania  to  the  gov- 
ernor's, and  bring  her  out.  We  would  make  a  tre- 
mendous sensation,  that  I  am  sure  of" 

"At  last  properly  dealt!  Play." 

With  her  hands  on  the  back  of  her  father's  chair, 
Inger-Johanna  gazed  intently  on  the  cards;  but  her 
face  had  a  heightened  glow. 

Ronnow  glanced  at  her  from  one  side.  "  A  sight 


i8  THE  FAMILY  AT  GILJE 

for  the  gods,  a  sight  for  the  gods !"  he  exclaimed,  as 
he  gathered  together  with  his  right  hand  the  cards 
he  had  just  arranged,  and  threw  them  on  the  table. 
"Naturally"  I  mean  how  the  lieutenant  manages 
dummy  —  you  understand,  madam,"  nodding  to  her 
with  significance.  "Heavens!  Peter,  that  was  a  card 
to  play. — Here  you  can  see  what  I  mean,"  he  con- 
tinued. "Trump,  trump,  trump,  trump!"  He  ea- 
gerly threw  four  good  spades  on  the  table,  one  after 
another,  without  paying  any  attention  to  what  fol- 
lowed. 

The  expression  of  the  lady's  face,  as  she  sat  there 
and  heard  her  innermost  thoughts  repeated  so 
plainly,  was  immovably  sealed;  she  said,  somewhat 
indifferently,  "It  is  high  time,  children,  you  said 
good-night;  it  is  past  your  bed-time.  Say  good-night 
to  the  gentlemen." 

The  command  brought  disappointment  to  their 
faces;  not  obeying  was  out  of  the  question,  and  they 
went  round  the  table,  and  made  curtsies  and  shook 
hands  with  the  captain  and  the  lieutenant. 

The  last  thing  Jorgen  noticed  was  that  the  lieu- 
tenant turned  round,  stretched  his  neck,  and  gaped 
like  Svarten  as  they  went  out. 

Their  mother  straightened  up  over  her  knitting- 
work.  "You  used  to  visit  my  brother's,  the  gov- 
ernor's, formerly.  Captain  R6nnow,"she  ventured. 
"They  are  childless  folk,  who  keep  a  hospitable 
house.  You  will  call  on  them  now,  I  suppose." 


CHAPTER  I  19 

"  Certainly  I  shall !  To  refrain  from  doing  that 
would  be  a  crime!  You  have,  I  should  imagine, 
thought  of  sending  one  of  your  daughters  there. 
The  governor's  wife  is  a  person  who  knows  how  to 
introduce  a  young  lady  into  the  world,  and  your 
Inger-Johanna — " 

The  captain's  wife  answered  slowly  and  with 
some  stress;  something  of  a  suppressed  bitterness 
rose  up  in  her.  "  That  would  be  an  entirely  unex- 
pected piece  of  good  fortune ;  but  more  than  we  out- 
of-the-way  country  folk  can  expect  of  our  grand, 
distinguished  sister-in-law.  Small  circumstances 
make  small  folk,  more  's  the  pity;  large  ones  ought 
to  make  them  otherwise.  —  My  brother  has  made 
her  a  happy  wife." 

"  Done.  Will  you  allow  an  old  friend  to  work  a 
littleforyour  attractive  little  Inger  ?"  returned  Cap- 
tain Ronnow. 

"I  think  that  Ma  will  thank  you.  What  do  you 
say,  Gitta  ?  Then  you  will  have  a  peg  to  hang  one 
of  them  on.  It  can't  be  from  one  of  us  two  that  In- 
ger-Johanna has  inherited  her  beauty.  Ma!"  said 
Captdn  Jager,  coughing  and  warding  off  his  wife's 
admonitory  look;  "but  there  is  blood,  both  on  her 
father's  and  mother's  side.  Her  great-grandmother 
was  married  off  up  in  Norway  by  the  Danish  queen 
because  she  was  too  handsome  to  be  at  court — it 
was  your  grandmother.  Ma!  Froken  von — " 

"My  dear  Jager,"  begged  his  wife. 


20  THE  FAMILY  AT  GILJE 

"Pshaw,  Ma!  The  sand  of  many  years  has  been 
strewed  over  that  event." 

When  the  game  was  again  started,  the  captain's 
wife  went  with  her  knitting-work  to  the  card-table, 
snuffed  first  one  candle  and  then  the  other,  leaned 
over  her  husband,  and  whispered  something. 

The  captain  looked  up,  rather  surprised.  "Yes, 
indeed.  Ma!  Yes,  indeed — *My  camel  for  your 
dromedary,'  said  Peter  Vangensten,  when  he 
swapped  his  old  spavined  horse  for  Mamen's 
blooded  foal.  If  you  come  with  your  arrack  from 
Holland  and  farther  India,  then  I  put  my  red  wine 
direct  from  France  against  it — genuine  Bordeaux, 
brought  home  and  drawn  straight  from  the  hogs- 
head! There  were  just  two  dozen  the  governor  sent 
us  with  the  wagon  the  autumn  Jorgen  was  baptized. 
— The  two  farthest  to  the  left.  Ma !  You  had  better 
take  Marit  with  you  with  the  lantern.  Then  you 
can  tell  the  governor's  wife  that  we  drank  her  health 
up  here  among  the  snow-drifts,  Ronnow." 

*'Yes,  she  is  very  susceptible  to  that  kind  of  thing, 
Peter  Jager." 

When  the  captain's  wife  came  in  again,  she  had 
the  stiff  damask  tablecloth  on  her  arm,  and  was  ac- 
companied by  a  girl  who  helped  move  the  folding- 
table  out  on  the  floor.  It  was  to  be  set  for  supper, 
and  the  card-table  must  be  moved  into  the  best 
room,  across  the  hall,  which  was  now  warm. 

"Can  you  wait,  Ma,  till  the  rubber  is  played?" 


CHAPTER  I  21 

Ma  did  not  answer;  but  they  felt  the  full  pressure 
of  her  silence;  her  honor  was  at  stake — the  roast 
veal. 

And  they  played  on  silently,  but  at  a  tearing  pace 
as  with  full  steam. 

Finally  the  captain  exclaimed,  while  Ma  stood 
immovable  with  the  cloth  in  the  middle  of  the  floor, 
"There,  there,  we  must  get  away,  Ronnow!" 

In  the  chamber  above,  impatient  hearts  were  ham- 
mering and  beating. 

While  Jorgen  went  to  sleep  with  the  image  be- 
fore him  of  his  lieutenant  who  gaped  like  Svarten 
when  he  came  out  of  the  stable  door  into  the  light, 
and  after  Torbjorg  had  put  out  the  candle,  the  sis- 
ters stole  out  into  the  great,  cold,  dark  hall.  There 
they  all  three  stood,  leaning  over  the  balustrade, 
and  gazing  down  on  the  fur  coats  and  mufflers, 
which  hung  on  the  timber  wall,  and  on  the  whip 
and  the  two  sabre  sheaths  and  the  case  of  bottles, 
which  were  dimly  lighted  by  the  stable  lantern  on 
the  hall  table. 

They  smelt  the  odor  of  the  roast  as  it  came  up, 
warm  and  appetizing,  and  saw  when  the  guests,  each 
with  his  punch-glass  in  his  hand  and  with  flickering 
candle,  went  across  the  hall  into  the  large  room. 
They  heard  the  folding-table  moved  out  and  set,  and 
later  caught  the  sound  of  the  clinking  of  glasses, 
laughter,  and  loud  voices. 


22  THE  FAMILY  AT  GILJE 

Every  sound  from  below  was  given  a  meaning, 
every  fragment  of  speech  was  converted  into  a  ro- 
mance for  their  thirsty  fancy. 

They  stood  there  in  the  cold  till  their  teeth  chat- 
tered and  their  limbs  shook  against  the  wood-work, 
so  that  they  were  obliged  to  get  into  bed  again  to 
thaw  out. 

They  heard  how  the  chairs  made  a  noise  when 
the  guests  rose  from  the  table,  and  they  went  out  in 
the  hall  again,  Thinka  and  Inger-Johanna, — Thea 
was  asleep.  It  helped  a  little  when  they  put  their 
feet  upon  the  lowest  rail  of  the  balustrade,  or  hung 
over  it  with  their  legs  bent  double  under  them. 

Thinka  held  out  because  Inger-Johanna  held 
out;  but  finally  she  was  compelled  to  give  up,  she 
could  not  feel  her  legs  any  more.  And  now  Inger- 
Johanna  alone  hung  down  over  the  balustrade. 

A  sort  of  close  odor  of  punch  and  tobacco  smoke 
frozen  together  rose  up  through  the  stairs  in  the 
cold,  and  every  time  the  door  was  opened  and 
showed  the  heavy,  smoky,  blue  gleam  of  light  in 
the  great  room,  she  could  hear  officers'  names,  frag- 
ments of  laughter,  of  violent  positive  assertions, 
with  profane  imprecations  by  all  possible  and  im- 
possible powers  of  the  heavens  above  and  the  earth 
beneath,  and  between  them  her  father's  gay  voice, 
— all  chopped  off  in  mince-meat  every  time  the 
door  was  shut. 

When  Inger-Johanna  went  to  bed  again,  she  lay 


CHAPTER  I  23 

thinking  how  Captain  Ronnow  had  asked  her  twice 
what  her  name  was,  and  then  again  how  at  the  card- 
table  he  had  said,"  I  should  Hke  to  take  her  with  me 
to  the  governor's  wife;  we  would  make  a  tremen- 
dous sensation."  And  then  what  came  next,  "  Nat- 
urally I  mean  how  the  lieutenant  plays  dummy," — 
which  they  thought  sne  did  not  understand. 

The  wind  blew  and  howled  around  the  cor- 
ner of  the  house,  and  whistled  down  through  the 
great  plastered  chimney-pipe  in  the  hall — and  she 
still,  half  in  her  dreams,  heard  Captain  Ronnow's 
"Trump!  trump!  trump!  trump!" 

The  next  day  Ma  went  about  the  house  as  usual 
with  her  bunch  of  keys;  she  had  hardly  slept  at  all 
that  night. 

She  had  become  old  before  her  time,  like  so 
many  other  "mas,"  in  the  household  affairs  of  that 
period — old  by  bearing  petty  annoyances,  by  toil 
and  trouble,  by  never  having  money  enough,  by 
bending  and  bowing,  by  continually  looking  like 
nothing  and  being  everything — the  one  on  whom 
the  whole  anxious  care  of  the  house  weighed. 

But — "One  lives  for  the  children." 

That  was  Ma's  pet  sigh  of  consolation.  And 
the  new  time  had  not  yet  come  to  the  "mas"  with 
the  question  whether  they  were  not  also  bound  to 
realize  their  own  personal  lives. 

But  for  the  children  it  was  a  holiday,  and  im- 


24  THE  FAMILY  AT  GILJE 

mediately  after  breakfast  they  darted  into  the  great 
room. 

There  stood  the  card-table,  again  moved  against 
the  wall,  with  the  cards  thrown  in  a  disorderly  pile 
over  the  paper  on  which  the  score  had  been  kept. 
It  had  been  folded  up  and  burned  on  one  end  for 
a  lighter;  and  by  its  side,  during  a  preliminary 
cleaning,  the  three  pipes  were  lying,  shoved  aside. 
One  window  was  still  open,  notwithstanding  the 
wind  blew  in  so  that  the  fastening  hook  rattled. 

There  was  something  in  the  room — a  pungent 
odor,  which  was  not  good;  no,  but  there  was, 
nevertheless,  something  about  it — something  of  an 
actual  occurrence. 

Outside  of  the  window  Great-Ola  stood  with  his 
hands  on  the  shovel  in  the  steep  snow-drift,  listen- 
ing to  Marit's  account  of  how  the  captain  had  left 
a  broad  two-kroner  piece  for  drink  money  on  the 
table  up  in  the  guest-chamber  and  the  lieutenant  a 
shilling  under  the  candlestick,  and  how  the  mistress 
had  divided  them  among  the  girls. 

"The  lieutenant  was  not  so  butter-fingered," 
suggested  Marit. 

"  Don't  you  know  that  a  lieutenant  would  be 
shot  if  he  gave  as  much  as  his  captain,  girl,"  re- 
torted Great-Ola,  while  she  hurried  in  with  the  keys 
of  the  storehouse  and  the  meal-chest. 

From  the  captain's  sleeping-room  the  sound  of 
his  snoring  could  be  heard  for  the  whole  forenoon. 


CHAPTER   I  25 

The  guests  did  not  go  to  bed,  and  started  at  six 
o'clock  in  the  morning,  when  the  post-boy  came  to 
the  door — after  the  second  bottle,  also,  of  Ron- 
now's  Indian  arrack  had  been  emptied,  and  a 
breakfast  with  whiskey,  brawn,  and  the  remnants 
of  the  roast  veal  had  strengthened  them  for  the  day's 
journey. 

But  the  thing  to  be  done  was  to  have  a  good 
time  on  the  holiday.  The  sisters  bustled  about  in 
the  hall  with  their  skis,  and  Jorgen  was  trying  how 
the  outer  steps  would  do  for  a  ski  slide. 

Soon  they  were  out  on  the  long  steep  hill  behind 
the  cow-barn  —  the  ski-staff  in  both  hands  in  front 
for  a  balance,  their  comforters  streaming  out  behind 
their  necks.  In  the  jump  Inger-Johanna  lost  her 
balance  and  almost — no,  she  kept  up! 

It  was  because  she  looked  up  to  the  window  of 
the  sleeping-room  to  see  if  her  father  appreciated 
her  skill. 

He  was  walking  about  and  dressing.  Ma  had  at 
last,  about  dinner  time,  ventured  to  wake  him  up. 


Chapter  II 

TWO  days  before  Christmas  Great-Ola  with 
Svarten  and  his  load  was  expected  from  Chris- 
tiania,  where  he  went  twice  a  year,  St.  John's  Day 
and  Christmas,  for  the  household  supplies. To-day 
was  the  ninth  day;  but  in  sleighing  like  this,  when 
the  horse's  feet  struck  through  at  every  step,  no 
one  could  be  sure  of  anything. 

The  load,  met  on  the  run,  far  down  the  slippery, 
slushy  hill,  by  the  children  and  the  barking,  one- 
eyed  Pasop,  came  along  in  the  afternoon,  while 
Svarten,  even  in  his  exertions  on  the  steep  part  of 
the  hill,  neighed  and  whinnied  with  pleasure  at 
being  home  again  and  longing  to  get  into  the  stall 
by  the  side  of  Brunen.  He  had  had  quite  enough 
of  the  journey,  and  worked  himself  into  a  foam  in 
the  harness  to  get  over  the  Gilje  hill. 

Marit,  the  cook,  and  Torbjorg  were  out  in  the 
porch  before  the  kitchen ;  the  three  girls  and  Jorgen 
stood  wholly  absorbed  by  the  load  and  the  horse, 
and  the  captain  himself  came  down  the  stairs. 

"Well,  Great-Ola,  how  has  Svarten  pulled 
through  ?  Sweaty  and  tired,  I  see !  Did  you  get  my 
uniform  buttons  ?  Ah,  well !  I  hope  you  did  not  for- 
get the  tobacco!  —  And  my  watch,  could  they  do 
anything  with  that?  —  Have  you  the  bill  ?  —  Well, 
then,  you  must  put  up  Svarten  —  he  shall  have  an 


CHAPTER  II  27 

extra  feed  of  oats  to-day.  What  ?  What  have  you 
got  there?" 

Besides  the  bill,  Great-Ola  had  taken  out  of  his 
inside  vest  pocket  a  letter  wrapped  up  in  paper, 
blue  postal  paper,  with  a  beautiful  red  seal  on  it. 
The  captain  looked  at  it  a  moment  with  surprise. 
It  was  the  writing  of  the  governor's  wife  and  her 
seal  in  the  wax,  and  without  saying  a  word  he 
hastened  in  to  his  wife. 

The  load  from  the  city,  the  great  event  of  the 
half  year,  occupied  the  attention  of  the  whole 
household.  Its  contents  interested  all,  not  the  chil- 
dren alone,  and  when  Great-Ola,  later  in  the  even- 
ing, sat  in  the  kitchen,  where  he  was  treated  as  a 
guest  on  account  of  his  return  home,  and  told  about 
his  trip  to  the  city  and  about  Svarten  and  himself, 
what  miracles  they  had  wrought  on  such  and  such 
hills — and  the  load  weighed  this  time  at  least  two 
hundred  pounds  more  than  the  last — then  there 
was  a  sort  of  glamor  about  him  and  Svarten,  too. 

One  evening  he  had  even  found  his  way  in  a 
snowstorm,  and  once  the  salt-bag  was  forgotten, 
and  then  Svarten  actually  would  not  stir  from  the 
inn-yard,  but  lashed  his  tail  at  every  cut  of  the 
whip,  and  kept  looking  back,  until  the  boy  came 
running  out  of  the  hall  and  shouted  out  about  the 
bag,  then  off  he  started  willingly  enough. 

The  captain  had  gone  in  and  had  wandered  up 
and  down  in  the  room  for  a  while  with  the  letter  of 


28  THE  FAMILY  AT  GILJE 

the  governor's  wife  in  blue  postal  paper  in  his  hand. 
He  looked  very  much  offended  at  Ma,  when  she 
seemed  to  think  more  about  the  load  from  the  city 
than  about  his  letter.  She  only  suggested  gently  that 
they  must  talk  about  all  that  in  the  evening. 

'  "All  that — you  say,  Ma!  —  that  Inger-Johanna 
is  invited  down  there  next  winter — and  we  have 
Ronnow  to  thank  for  it.  That  is  short  and  clear 
enough,  I  should  think!  What?  What?"  he  roared 
out  impatiently.  "Is  it  not  plain?  —  or  have  you 
some  notions  about  it?" 

"No  —  no,  dear  Jager!" 

"Well,  then  you  should  not  delay  the  whole 
unloading  of  the  goods  with  your  quiet  sigh,  full 
of  importance,  and  your  secret  meanings  which  al- 
ways make  me  mad.  You  know  I  hate  it!  I  go 
straight  to  the  point  always ! " 

"  I  was  merely  thinking  about  your  uniform  coat, 
whether  the  tailor  has  sent  the  pieces  with  it,  you 
know — " 

"You  are  right,  you  are  right,  Gitta,"  and  out  he 
rushed  like  a  flash. 

The  unpacking  went  on  in  the  kitchen,  before 
the  spice  closet  with  its  numerous  compartments, 
where  raisins,  prunes,  almonds,  the  different  kinds 
of  sugar,  allspice,  and  cinnamon,  were  each  put  into 
their  own  places.  Now  and  then  fell  a  tribute,  a 
prune,  two  almonds,  three  raisins,  to  each  of  the 
children;  and  it  could  not  be  denied  that  this  load 


CHAPTER  II  29 

from  the  city  was  like  a  foretaste  of  Christmas  Eve. 

At  first  the  captain  was  intensely  interested  in 
getting  hold  of  the  ink  bottles,  the  tobacco,  and  the 
strong  wares  which  were  to  be  kept  in  the  cellar — 
everything  else  must  be  put  aside  for  them.  And 
then  he  flew  in  and  out,  with  one  bill  or  another  in 
his  hand  and  a  quill  pen  full  of  ink,  to  compare 
with  the  general  bill  which  his  wife  had  nailed  up 
on  the  upper  door  of  the  spice  closet. 

"  Ma,  can  you  conceive  such  extortion  ? "  stop- 
ping suddenly  before  the  bill,  which  still  finally  was 
always  found  to  be  right,  and  then  turning  thought- 
fully round  again,  while  he  dried  his  pen  in  his 
chocolate-colored  every-day  wig. 

His  plethoric,  vociferous,  somewhat  confused 
nature  always  became  furious  when  he  saw  a  bill; 
it  operated  like  a  red  cloth  on  a  bull,  and  when,  as 
now,  all  the  half  year's  bills  came  storming  down  on 
him  at  once,  he  both  roared  and  bellowed.  It  was 
an  old  story  for  his  wife,  who  had  acquired  a  re- 
markable skill  in  taking  the  bull  by  the  horns. 

The  wrongs,  which  thus  he  did  «o/ suffer,  seemed 
nevertheless  to  awaken  an  increasing  storm  of  re- 
sentment in  him.  With  a  violent  tug  at  the  door- 
latch,  and  his  wig  awry,  he  would  come  suddenly 
in,  exclaiming,  —  "Seventy-five  dollars,  three  shil- 
Hngs,  seventeen  pence!  —  seventy-five  —  dollars — 
three  shillings — and  seventeen  pence! — it  is  almost 
enough  to  make  one  crazy.  And  so  you  ordered 


30  THE  FAMILY  AT  GILJE 

citron — citron," — he  put  on  a  falsetto  tone,  and 
laughed  out  of  pure  rage.  "He,  he,  he,  he!  —  now 
have  we  the  means  for  that?  And  then,  almond  soap 
for  the  guest-chamber!"  This  last  came  in  a  deep, 
suppressed,  gloomy  bass.  "I  cannot  understand 
how  you  could  have  hit  on  that!" 

"My  dear,  that  was  thrown  in.  Don't  you  see 
that  it  is  n't  carried  out  for  anything?" 

"Thrown  in — oh,  thrown  in  —  yes,  there  you 
see  how  they  cheat!  Seventy-five  dollars,  three  shil- 
lings, and  seventeen  pence — plainly  that  is  enough 
to  be  frightened  at.  Where  shall  I  find  the  money  ?" 

"But  you  have  already  found  it,  Jager!  —  Re- 
member the  servants,"  she  whispered  quickly.  It 
was  a  quiet  prayer  to  put  off  the  rest  of  the  out- 
burst till  later  in  the  afternoon,  between  themselves. 

The  captain's  various  ecstatic  flashes  of  passion 
about  the  bills  went  over  the  house  that  afternoon 
like  a  refreshing  and  purifying  thunderstorm  be- 
fore Christmas.  The  children,  cowed  and  tortured, 
took  refuge  during  the  storm  under  the  protection 
of  their  mother,  who  warded  off  the  blast;  but  when 
his  step  was  again  heard  in  the  office,  they  went  on, 
just  as  persevering  and  inquisitive  as  before,  peep- 
ing into  and  shaking  out  the  bags  in  order  to  find 
a  raisin  or  two  or  a  currant  that  had  been  forgot- 
ten, collecting  the  twine,  looking  after  the  weight, 
and  cutting  up  the  bar  soap. 

During  all  these  anxieties  the  tall  form  of  the 


CHAPTER  II  31 

mistress  stood  in  uninterrupted  activity,  bowed  like 
a  crane  over  the  box  with  the  city  wares,  which  had 
been  lifted  in  on  the  kitchen  floor.  Jars,  willow  bas- 
kets filled  with  hay,  small  bags,  and  an  infinity  of 
packages  in  gray  wrappers,  tied  up  with  twine,  small 
and  great,  vanished  by  degrees  into  their  different 
resting-places,  even  to  the  last,  the  bag  with  the  fine 
wheat  flour,  which  was  brought  in  by  Great-Ola 
and  put  by  itself  in  the  meal-chest  in  the  pantry. 

When  the  spice  closet  was  finally  shut,  the  cap- 
tain stood  there  for  the  twentieth  time.  With  the 
air  of  a  man  who  had  been  made  to  wait  and  been 
tormented  long  enough,  he  gently  tapped  her  on 
the  shoulder  with  his  fingers  and  said,  rather  re- 
proachfully, "It  really  astonishes  me,  Gitta,  that 
you  don't  pay  more  attention  to  the  letter  we  have 
received  to-day." 

"  I  have  n't  been  able  to  think  of  anything  else 
than  your  troubles  with  the  bills,  Jager.  Now  I 
think  you  might  taste  the  French  brandy  this  even- 
ing, to  see  if  it  is  good  enough  for  the  Christmas 
punch.  Cognac  is  so  dear." 

"That's  a  good  idea,  Gitta!  —  Yes,  yes — only 
let  us  have  supper  soon." 

The  plates  with  oatmeal  porridge  and  the  blue 
milk  in  the  cold  cups  were  placed  upon  the  table ; 
they  stood  like  black,  dreary  islands  over  the  cloth, 
and  presented  no  temptation  to  linger  over  the 
evening  meal. 


32  THE  FAMILY  AT  GILJE 

After  the  necessary  part  of  it  was  swallowed  and 
the  children  were  sent  upstairs,  the  captain  sat,  now 
quite  cozy  and  comfortable,  before  the  table,  which 
was  still  extended,  with  his  tobacco  and  his  taste  of 
toddy  made  of  the  French  brandy,  whose  trans- 
formation into  Christmas  punch  was  going  on  in 
the  kitchen,  from  which  there  was  also  heard  the 
sizzling  of  the  waffle-iron. 

"Only  strong.  Ma, — only  strong! — Then  you 
can  manage  with  the  brown  sugar. — Yes,  yes,"  tast- 
ing of  the  wooden  dipper  which  his  wife  brought  in, 
"you  can  treat  the  sheriff  to  that  with  pleasure." 

"Now  Marit  is  coming  in  with  the  warm  waffles, 
— and  then  it  was  this  about  the  letter  of  the  gov- 
ernor's wife. — You  see,  Jager,  we  cannot  send  the 
child  there  unless  we  have  her  suitably  fitted  out; 
she  must  have  a  black  silk  confirmation  dress,  city 
boots  and  shoes,  a  hat,  and  other  things." 

"Black  silk  conf — " 

"Yes,  and  some  other  dresses,  which  we  must 
order  in  Christiania;  there  is  no  help  for  it." 

Captain  Jager  began  to  walk  to  and  fro. 

"  So,  so !  —  So,  so !  Well,  if  that  is  your  idea,  then 
I  think  we  will  decline  the  invitation  with  thanks." 

"  I  knew  that,  Jager!  You  would  like  to  have  the 
yolk,  but  as  to  breaking  the  egg,  you  hesitate." 

"Break  the  egg?  Break  my  purse,  you  mean." 

"I  mean,  you  can  call  in  a  part  of  the  six  hun- 
dred dollars  you  got  with  me.  I  have  thought  and 


CHAPTER  II  33 

reckoned  it  over.  I  nger- Johanna  alone  will  cost  us 
over  one  hundred  dollars  this  year,  and  when 
Thinka  is  going  to  Ryfylke,  we  shall  not  get  off 
with  two  hundred." 

"Over  two  hundred  dollars! — Are  you  crazy.'' 
Are  you  crazy  —  really  crazy,  Ma.''  I  think  you 
have  a  screw  loose!"  He  made  a  sudden  turn  over 
the  floor.  "The  letter  shall  rather  go  at  once  into 
the  stove." 

"Very  well;  you  know  that  I  think  everything 
you  do  is  sensible,  Jager." 

He  stopped,  with  the  letter  in  his  hand  and  his 
mouth  half  open. 

"And  the  slight  chance  I  nger- Johanna  might 
have  of  being  provided  for,  that  perhaps  is  not  so 
much  to  be  taken  into  account.  She  is  certainly  the 
nearest  relation.  There  is  nothing  in  the  way  to  pre- 
vent her  being  the  heir  also. — N-no,  do  as  you 
will  and  as  you  like,  Jager.  You  probably  see  more 
clearly  in  this  than  I  do.  —  And  then  you  will  take 
the  responsibility  yourself,  Jager,"  —  she  sighed. 

The  captain  crumpled  the  letter  together,  gave 
her  a  hasty  glance  like  a  wounded  lion,  and  then 
stood  awhile  and  stared  at  the  floor.  Suddenly  he 
threw  the  letter  on  the  table  and  broke  out:  "She 
must  go  ! — But  the  cost  of  the  campaign  —  the  cost 
of  the  campaign.  Ma,  that,  I  learned  in  my  strategy, 
must  be  borne  by  the  enemy!  And  the  governor's 
wife  must  naturally  take  care  of  her  outfit  there." 


34  THE  FAMILY  AT  GILJE 

"The  governor's  wife,  Jager,  must  not  pay  for 
anything — not  a  bit — before  she  has  decided  if  she 
will  keep  her.  We  must  not  be  anxious  to  be  rid  of 
her;  but  she  shall  be  anxious  to  get  her;  and  she 
must  ask  us  for  her,  both  once  and  twice,  you 
understand." 

That  the  winter  was  coming  on  was  less  noticed 
this  year  than  usual.  Two  children  were  to  be  fitted 
out.  Soon  spinning-wheel  and  reel  accompanied,  in 
the  short  day  and  long  evening,  the  murmur  of  the 
stove.  Ma  herself  spun  all  the  fine  woof  for  the 
linsey-woolsey  dresses.  There  was  knitting,  weav- 
ing, and  sewing,  nay,  also  embroidery  on  linen — 
"twelve  of  everything  for  each  one."  And  in  school 
hours  in  the  office  the  captain  worked  not  less  zeal- 
ously with  the  French  grammar. 

The  stiffening  cold  frost,  which  blew  about  the 
house  and  cut  like  ice  from  every  crack;  the  cold 
so  fierce  that  the  skin  was  torn  off  the  hands  when 
any  one  was  unlucky  enough  to  take  hold  of  the 
latch  of  the  outer  door  or  of  the  porch  without  mit- 
tens; complaints  of  nail  ache,  when  the  children 
came  in  from  out-of-doors;  or  else  that  the  drinking- 
water  was  frozen  solid  in  the  tubs  and  pails,  that  the 
meat  must  be  thawed  out, — this  was  only  what  was 
usual  in  the  mountain  region.  The  doleful,  monot- 
onous howling  and  the  long,  hungry  yelling  of  the 
wolves  down  on  the  ice  could  be  heard  from  the 


CHAPTER   II  35 

Gilje  hills  both  by  day  and  by  night.  The  road  on 
the  lake  lasted  a  long  time.  It  was  there  till  long  into 
the  spring  thaw,  though  worn,  unsafe, and  blue  with 
its  dirt-brown  mudstreak. 

But  when  it  did  disappear,  and  the  ice  was  melted 
by  the  heat  of  the  sun,  there  lay  on  the  steep  hill 
behind  the  house  a  long  line  of  bleaching  linen,  so 
shining  white  that  it  seemed  as  if  the  snow  had  for- 
gotten to  go  away  there. 


Chapter  III 

IT  was  midsummer.  The  mountain  region  was 
hazy  in  the  heat ;  all  the  distance  was  as  if  en- 
veloped in  smoke.  The  girls  on  the  farm  went  about 
barefooted,  in  waists  and  short  petticoats.  It  was 
a  scorching  heat,  so  that  the  pitch  ran  in  sticky 
white  lines  down  from  the  fat  knots  in  the  timber 
of  the  newly  built  pigsty,  where  Marit  was  giving 
swill  to  the  hogs.  Some  sand-scoured  wooden  milk- 
pans  stood  on  edge  by  the  well,  drying,  while  one 
or  two  sparrows  and  wagtails  hopped  about  or 
perched  nodding  on  the  well-curb,  and  the  blows  of 
the  axe  resounded  from  the  wood-shed  in  the  quiet 
of  the  afternoon.  Pasop  lay  panting  in  the  shade 
behind  the  outer  door,  which  stood  open. 

The  captain  had  finished  his  afternoon  nap,  and 
stood  by  the  field  looking  at  Great-Ola  and  the 
horses  ploughing  up  an  old  grassland  which  was 
to  be  laid  down  again. 

The  bumble-bee  was  humming  in  the  garden. 
With  about  the  same  monotonous  voice,  Thinka 
and  I nger- Johanna,  sitting  by  the  stone  table  in  the 
summer-house  over  the  cracked  blue  book-cover 
and  the  dog-eared,  well-thumbed  leaves,  mumbled 
the  Catechism  and  Commentary,  with  elbows  and 
heads  close  to  each  other.  They  had  to  learn  pages 
eighty-four  to  eighty-seven  before  supper  time,  and 


CHAPTER  III  37 

they  held  their  fingers  in  their  ears  so  as  not  to  dis- 
turb each  other. 

There  was  darkness  like  a  shadow  just  outside  of 
the  garden  fence.  But  they  saw  nothing,  heard  noth- 
ing; the  long  passage  of  Scripture  went  way  over  on 
the  second  page. 

Then  there  was  a  gay  clearing  of  a  throat.  "Might 
one  interrupt  the  two  young  ladies  with  earthly 
affairs?" 

They  both  looked  up  at  the  same  time.  The  light 
hop  leaves  about  the  summer-house  had  not  yet 
entirely  covered  the  trellis. 

With  his  arms  leaning  on  the  garden  fence  there 
stood  a  young  man — he  might  have  been  standing 
there  a  long  time  —  with  a  cap  almost  without  a  visor 
over  thick  brown  hafr.  His  face  was  sunburned  and 
swollen. 

The  eyes,  which  gazed  on  them,  looked  dread- 
fully wicked. 

Neither  of  them  saw  more;  for,  by  a  common  im- 
pulse at  the  phenomenon,  they  ran  in  utter  panic 
out  of  the  door,  leaving  the  books  spread  open  be- 
hind them,  and  up  the  steps  in  to  Ma,  who  was 
in  the  kitchen  buttering  bread  for  lunch. 

"There  was  a  man  standing — there  was  a  man 
out  by  the  garden  fence.  It  was  certainly  not  any  one 
who  goes  around  begging  or  anything  like  that." 

"Hear  what  he  has  to  say,  Jorgen,"  said  Ma, 


38  THE  FAMILY  AT  GILJE 

quickly  comprehending  the  situation ;  "  this  way, 
out  the  veranda  door.  Appear  as  if  you  came  of  your 
own  accord." 

Both  the  girls  flew  in  to  the  windows  of  the  best 
room  in  order  to  peep  out  under  the  curtains. 

He  was  coming  in  by  the  steps  to  the  outer  door 
with  Jorgen,  who  suddenly  vanished  from  his  sight 
into  the  kitchen. 

Little  Thea  stood  in  the  door  of  the  sitting-room 
with  a  piece  of  bread  and  butter,  clutching  the  latch, 
and,  holding  the  door  halfshut  and  half  open,  stared 
at  him;  she  was  altogether  out  of  it. 

"Is  your  father  at  home?" 

"Yes,  but  you  must  go  by  the  kitchen  path,  do 
you  hear?  And  wait  till  we  have  had  lunch;  he  is 
not  going  up  to  the  office  before  that."  She  took  him 
for  a  man  who  was  going  to  be  put  on  the  roll. 

"But  I  am  not  going  to  the  office,  you  see." 

Ma  herself  came  now;  she  had  managed  to  get 
her  cap  on  in  her  hurry,  but  it  was  all  awry. 

"A  young  man,  I  see,  who  has  perhaps  come  a 
long  distance  to-day.  Please  walk  in." 

Her  smile  was  kind,  but  her  eye  underneath  it 
was  as  sharp  as  an  officer's  review;  here  were  holes 
and  darns  with  coarse  thread  for  the  nonce  and  rents 
in  abundance,  and  it  was  not  easy  to  free  herself  from 
the  suspicion  of  some  questionable  rover,  especially 
when   he  dropped  straight  in  through  the  door 


CHAPTER  III  39 

with  the  remark:  "I  come  Hke  a  tramp  from  the 
mountain  wilds,  madam.  I  must  make  many  ex- 
cuses." 

Ma's  searching  look  had  in  the  mean  time  broken 
through  the  shell.  The  white  streak  on  the  upper 
part  of  the  forehead,  under  the  shade  where  the  skin 
had  not  been  reddened  by  the  sunburn,  and  his 
whole  manner  determined  her  to  scrutinize  him 
prudently. "Please  sit  down,  Jager  is  coming  soon." 
Sheincidentally  passed  by  the  sewing-table  and  shut 
it.  "  Won't  you  let  me  send  you  a  glass  of  milk  in 
the  mean  time.''" 

A  girl  came  in  with  a  great  basin,  shaped  like 
a  bowl,  and  vanished  again. 

He  put  it  to  his  mouth,  noted  with  his  eye  how 
much  he  had  drunk,  drank  again,  and  took  another 
view. 

"It  is  delightful  —  is  not  at  all  like  the  mistress 
of  the  house,  for  she  seemed  like  sour  milk,  and" — 
he  suppressed  a  sigh — "dangerously  dignified." 

He  drank  again. 

"Yes,  now  one  really  must  stop  ;  but  since  and 
whereas  —  " 

He  placed  the  basin  quite  empty  on  the  plate. 

"  Best  to  attack  him  at  once.  Dead  broke,  will  you 
on  my  honest  face  lend  me  four — no,  that  does  not 
souod  well,  better  out  with  it  at  once — five  dollars, 
so  that  I  can  get  to -Christiania  ?" 


40  THE  FAMILY  AT  GILJE 

The  small  eyes  twinkled  quickly.  If  only  the 
captain  had  come  then!  Some  one  was  walking 
about  out  there. 

He  gazed  abstractedly;  he  repeated  his  speech 
to  himself.  It  was  always  altered,  and  now  he  stood 
again  at  the  ticklish  point — the  amount.  He  con- 
sidered if  perhaps  he  only  needed  to  ask  for  four — 
three  ? 

There  was  a  growling  out  in  the  hall;  the  dog 
rushed  out,  barking  loudly.  It  was  plainly  the 
captain. 

The  young  man  rose  hurriedly,  but  sat  down 
again  like  a  spring  ready  to  jump  up  out  of  a  chair: 
he  had  been  in  too  great  haste. 

"In  the  parlor — some  sort  of  fellow  who  wants 
to  talk  with  me?"  It  was  out  on  the  stairs  that 
some  one  was  speaking. 

A  moment  or  two  later,  and  the  captain  ap- 
peared in  the  door. 

"  I  must  beg  you  to  excuse  me.  Captain.  I  have 
unfortunately,  unfortunately" — here  he  began  to 
stammer;  bad  luck  would  have  it  that  one  of  the 
two  young  girls  whom  he  had  seen  in  the  summer- 
house,  the  dark  one,  came  in  after  her  father;  and 
so  it  would  not  do  —  "come  over  the  mountain," 
he  continued.  "You  will  understand  that  one  can- 
not exactly  appear  in  the  best  plight."  The  last 
came  in  a  tone  of  forced  ease. 


CHAPTER  III  41 

The  captain  at  that  moment  did  not  appear  ex- 
actly agreeably  surprised. 

"My  name  is  Arent  Grip!" 

"Arent  Grip!"  rejoined  the  captain,  looking  at 
him.  "  Grip !  the  same  phiz  and  eyes !  You  can 
never  be  the  son  of  Perpetuum — cadet  at  Lur- 
leiken?  He  is  a  farmer,  or  proprietor  I  suppose  he 
calls  himself,  somewhere  among  the  fjords." 

"He  is  my  father.  Captain." 

"Does  he  still  work  as  hard  as  ever  at  his 
mechanical  ideas  ? "  asked  the  captain.  "  I  heard 
that  he  had  carried  the  water  for  his  mill  straight 
through  the  roof  of  the  cow-barn,  so  that  the  cows 
got  a  shower  bath,  when  the  pipes  sprung  a  leak." 

I  nger- Johanna  caught  a  movement  of  indigna- 
tion, as  if  the  stranger  suddenly  grasped  after  his 
cap.  "Shame,  shame,  that  those  times  did  not  give 
a  man  like  my  father  a  scientific  education."  He 
said  this  with  a  seriousness  utterly  oblivious  of 
the  captain. 

"So,  so.  Well,  my  boy,  you  must  be  kind 
enough  to  take  a  little  lunch  with  us,  before  you 
start  off.  Inger-Johanna,  tell  Ma  that  we  want 
something  to  drink  and  bread  and  butter.  You 
must  be  hungry  coming  down  from  the  moun- 
tains. Sit  down. — And  what  is  now  your — your 
occupation  or  profession  in  the  world?  if  I  might 
ask."  The  captain  sauntered  around  the  flioor. 


42  THE  FAMILY  AT  GILJE 

"  Student ;  and,  Captain,"  he  gasped,  in  order  to 
use  quickly  the  moment  while  they  were  alone, 
"since  I  have  been  so  free  as  to  come  in  here  thus 
without  knowing  you — " 

"Student!"  The  captain  stopped  in  the  middle 
of  the  floor.  "Yes,  I  would  have  risked  my  head 
on  it,  saw  it  at  the  first  glance,  but  yet  I  was  a  little 
in  doubt.  Well,  yes,"  clearing  his  throat,  "nearly 
plucked,  perhaps;  eh,  boy?"  inquired  he  good- 
naturedly.  "Your  father  also  had  trouble  with  his 
examinations." 

"  I  have  not  the  fractional  part  of  my  father's 
brains,  but  with  what  I  have,  they  gave  me  this  year 
laudahilis  praeceteris." 

"Son  of  my  friend.  Fin  Arentzen  Grip!"  He 
uttered  each  one  of  the  names  with  a  certain  tender 
recognition.  "Your  father  was,  all  things  consid- 
ered, a  man  of  good  ability,  not  to  say  a  little  of 
a  genius, —  when  he  failed  in  his  officer's  exami- 
nation, it  was  all  due  to  his  irregular  notions.  Well, 
so  you  are  his  son !  Yes,  he  wrote  many  a  compo- 
sition for  me — the  pinch  was  always  with  the 
compositions,  you  see." 

"And,  Captain,"  began  the  young  man  again 
earnestly,  now  in  a  louder  and  more  decided  tone, 
"since  I  can  thus,  without  further  ceremony,  con- 
fidently address  you  —  " 

"You  can  tell  Ma,"  said  the  captain,  when  In- 
ger-Johanna  again  came  in  with  her  taller,  over- 


CHAPTER  III  43 

grown  sister,  "that  it  is  Student  Arent  Grip,  son  of 
my  old  delightful  comrade  at  the  Mihtary  School." 

The  result  of  this  last  message  was  that  the  con- 
templated plate  with  a  glass  and  bread  and  butter 
was  changed  to  a  little  lunch  for  him  and  the  cap- 
tain, spread  out  on  a  tray. 

The  old  bread-basket  of  red  lacquer  was  filled 
with  sHces  of  black,  sour  bread,  the  crusts  of  which 
were  cracked  off.  More's  the  pity,  Ma  declared, 
it  had  been  spoiled  in  the  baking,  and  the  gray, 
heavy  crust  was  due  to  the  fact  that  so  much  of  the 
grain  on  the  captain's  farm  last  year  was  harvested 
before  it  was  ripe. 

The  student  showed  the  sincerity  of  his  forbear- 
ance of  these  defects  through  an  absolutely  murder- 
ous appetite.  The  prudential  lumps  of  salt,  which 
studded  the  fresh  mountain  butter  with  pearly 
tears  in  a  superfluous  abundance,  he  had  a  knack 
of  dodging  boldly  and  incisively,  which  did  not 
escape  admiring  eyes;  only  a  single  short  stroke 
of  his  knife  on  the  under  side  of  the  bread  and 
butter,  and  the  lumps  of  salt  rained  and  pattered 
over  the  plate. 

"You  will  surely  have  some  dried  beef?  I  guess 
you  have  not  had  much  to  eat  to-day.  Go  and  get 
some  more,  Thinka.  A  little  dram  with  the  cheese, 
what?  You  can  believe  that  we  tested  many  a  good 
old  cheese  in  the  den  at  your  father's,  and  when 
we  had  a  spree,  we  sent  for  it,  and  it  circulated 


44  THE  FAMILY  AT  GILJE 

round  from  one  party  to  another;  and  then  the 
apples  from  Bergen  which  he  got  by  the  bushel 
by  freighting-vessel  from  home!  He  was  such  a 
greenhorn,  and  so  kind  hearted — too  confiding  for 
such  rascals  as  we!  Oh,  how  we  hunted  through 
his  closet  and  boxes! — and  then  we  did  our  exer- 
cises at  the  same  time;  it  was  only  his  that  the 
teacher  corrected  through  the  whole  class."  The 
captain  emptied  the  second  part  of  his  long  dram. 
"Ah!"  He  held  his  glass  up  against  the  light,  and 
looked  through  it,  as  he  was  accustomed  to.  "  But 
nevertheless,  there  was  something  odd  about  him, 
you  know;  you  must  see  that  such  a  one,  straight 
from  the  country,  does  not  fit  in  at  once.  Never 
forget  when  he  first  lectured  us  about  perpetual 
motion.  It  was  done  with  only  five  apples  in  a 
wheel,  he  said,  and  the  apples  must  be  absolutely 
mathematically  exact.  It  was  that  which  got  out  and 
ruined  him,  so  people  came  to — yes,  you  know — 
comment  on  it,  and  make  fun  of  him;  and  that 
hung  on  till  the  examination." 

The  student  wriggled  about. 

The  young  ladies,  who  were  sitting  with  their 
sewing  by  the  window,  also  noticed  how  he  had  now 
forgotten  himself;  during  the  whole  time  he  had 
kept  one  boot  under  the  chair  behind  the  other  in 
order  to  conceal  the  sole  of  his  shoes  gaping  wide 
open.  They  were  in  good  spirits,  and  hardly  dared 
to  look  at  each  other — son  of  a  man  who  was  called 


CHAPTER  III  45 

Perpetuum,  was  a  cadet,  and  gave  the  cows  a  bath. 
Father  was  dreadfully  amusing  when  there  were 
strangers  present. 

"  Not  a  moment's  doubt  that  there  were  ideas 
—  but  there  was  somethifig  obstinate  about  him. 
To  come,  as  he  did,  straight  from  the  farm,  and 
then  to  begin  to  dispute  with  the  teacher  about 
what  is  in  the  book,  never  succeeds  well,  especially 
in  physics  in  the  Military  School.  And  you  can 
believe  that  was  a  comedy." 

"  Then  I  will  bet  my  head  that  it  was  not  my 
father  who  was  wrong.  Captain." 

"Hm,  hm  —  naturally  yes,  his  father  to  a  dot," 
he  mumbled — "  Hm,  well,  you  have  got praeceteris 
all  the  same, — will  you  have  a  drop  more?"  came 
the  hospitable  diversion. 

"No,  I  thank  you.  But  I  will  tell  you  how  it  was 
with  my  father.  It  was  just  as  it  was  with  a  hound 
they  had  once  at  the  judge's.  There  was  such  blood 
and  spirit  in  him  that  you  would  search  long  to  find 
his  equal ;  but  one  day  he  bit  a  sheep,  and  so  he  had 
to  be  cured.  It  was  done  by  locking  him  up  in  a 
sheepfold.  There  he  stood,  alone  before  the  ram  and 
all  the  sheepfold.  It  seemed  to  him  splendid  fun. 
Then  the  ram  came  leaping  at  him,  and  the  dog 
rolled  heels  over  head.  Pshaw,  that  was  nothing; 
but  after  the  ram  came  tripping  —  before  he  could 
rise  —  all  the  fifty  sheep  trip  —  trip  —  trip,  over 
him ;  then  he  was  entirely  confused.  Again  they 


46  THE  FAMILY  AT  GILJE 

stood  opposite  each  other,  and  once  more  the  ram 
rushed  in  on  the  dog,  and  trip  —  trip — trip — trip, 
came  the  feet  of  the  whole  flock  of  sheep  over  him. 
So  they  kept  on  for  fully  two  hours,  until  the  dog 
lay  perfectly  quiet  and  completely  stunned.  He 
was  cured,  never  bit  a  sheep  again.  But  what  he  was 
good  for  afterwards  we  had  better  not  talk  about — 
he  had  been  through  the  Military  School,  Captain." 

When  he  looked  up,  he  met  the  dark,  intense 
eyes  of  the  mistress  fixed  on  him ;  her  capped  head 
immediately  bent  down  over  the  sewing  again. 

The  captain  had  listened  more  and  more  eagerly. 
The  cure  of  the  hound  interested  him.  It  was  only 
at  the  last  expression  he  discovered  that  there  was 
any  hidden  meaning  in  it. 

"Hm — my  dear  Grip.  Ah !  Yes,  you  think  that. 
Hm,  can't  agree  with  you.  There  were  skilful  teach- 
ers, and  —  ho,  ho, — really  we  were  not  sheep — 
rather  wolves  to  meet  with,  my  boy.  But  the  cure, 
I  must  admit,  was  disgraceful  for  a  good  dog,  and 
in  so  far — well,  a  drop  more?" 

"Thank  you.  Captain." 

"  But  what  kind  of  a  road  do  you  say  you  have 
been  over,  my  boy?" 

With  the  food  and  the  glass  and  a  half  of  cordial 
which  he  had  enjoyed,  new  life  had  come  into  the 
young  man.  He  looked  at  his  clothes,  and  was  even 
so  bold  as  to  put  his  boots  out;  a  great  seam  went 
across  one  knee. 


CHAPTER  III  47 

"  I  certainly  might  be  set  up  as  a  scarecrow  for 
a  terror  and  warning  to  all  those  who  will  depart 
from  the  highway.  It  was  all  because  at  the  post  sta- 
tion I  met  a  deer-hunter,  an  excellent  fellow.  The 
chap  talked  to  me  so  long  of  what  there  was  on  the 
mountain  that  I  wanted  to  go  with  him." 

"  Extremely  reasonable,"  muttered  the  captain, 
"  when  a  man  is  paying  for  his  son  in  Christiania." 

"  I  had  become  curious,  I  must  tell  you,  and  so 
started  off  for  the  heart  of  the  mountains." 

"  Is  he  not  even  more  aggravatingly  mad  than  his 
father, — to  start  in  haphazard  over  the  black,  path- 
less mountain?" 

"The  track  led  over  the  debris  and  stones  at 
the  foot  at  first  for  five  hours.  But  I  don't  know 
what  it  is  upon  the  mountain;  it  was  as  if  some- 
thing got  into  my  legs.  The  air  was  so  fine  and 
light,  as  if  I  had  been  drinking  champagne ;  it  in- 
toxicated me.  I  should  have  liked  to  walk  on  my 
hands,  and  it  would  have  been  of  no  consequence 
to  any  one  in  the  whole  wide  world,  for  I  was  on 
the  summit.  And  never  in  my  life  have  I  seen  such 
a  view  as  when  we  stood,  in  the  afternoon,  on  the 
mountain  crest, — only  cool,  white,  shining  snow, 
and  dark  blue  sky,  peak  on  peak,  one  behind  the 
other,  in  a  glory  as  far  as  the  eye  could  reach." 

"Yes,  we  have  snow  enough,  my  boy.  It  stands 
close  up  against  the  walls  of  the  house  here  all  win- 
ter, as  clear,  white,  and  cold  as  any  one  could  wish. 


48  THE  FAMILY  AT  GILJE 

We  find  ourselves  very  well  satisfied  with  that, — 
but  show  me  a  beautiful  green  meadow  or  a  fine 
field  of  grain,  my  boy." 

"It  seemed  to  me  as  if  one  great  fellow  of  a 
mountain  stood  by  the  side  of  another  and  said : 
You  poor,  thin-legged,  puny  being,  are  you  not 
going  to  be  blown  away  in  the  blue  draught,  here  on 
the  snow-field,  like  a  scrap  of  paper?  If  you  wish 
to  know  what  is  great,  take  your  standard  from  us." 

"You  got  praeceteris^  you  said,  my  man?  Yes, 
yes,  yes,  yes !  What  do  you  say  if  we  get  the  shoe- 
maker to  put  a  little  patch  on  your  shoes  to- 
night?" 

It  was  as  much  as  an  invitation  to  stay  all  night! 
—  Extremely  tempting  to  postpone  the  request  till 
next  day.  "  Thank  you.  Captain,  I  will  not  deny  that 
it  might  be  decidedly  practical." 

"Tell  the  shoemaker,  Jorgen,  to  take  them  as 
soon  as  he  has  put  the  heel-irons  on  those  I  am  to 
have  for  the  survey  of  the  roads." 

Oh!  So  he  is  going  away,  perhaps  early  to-mor- 
row morning;  it  must  be  done  this  evening,  never- 
theless !  Now,  when  the  daughters  were  beginning 
to  clear  off  the  table,  it  was  best  to  watch  his 
chance. 

The  captain  began  walking  up  and  down  the 
floor  with  short  steps.  "Yes,  yes,  true!  Yes,  yes, 
true!  Would  you  like  to  see  some  fine  pigs. 
Grip?" 


CHAPTER  III  49 

The  student  immediately  sprang  up.  The  way 
out!  He  grabbed  his  cap.  "  Do  you  keep  many, 
Captain?"  he  asked,  extremely  interested. 

"Come!  —  oh,  it  is  no  matter  about  going 
through  the  kitchen — come  out  a  little  while  on 
the  porch  steps.  Do  you  see  that  light  spot  in  the 
woods  up  there .''  That  is  where  we  took  the  tim- 
ber for  the  cow-house  and  the  pigsty,  two  years 
ago." 

He  went  out  into  the  farmyard  bare-headed. 

"  Marit,  Marit,  here  is  some  one  who  wants  to 
see  your  pigs.  Now  you  shall  be  reviewed.  There  are 
a  sow  and  seven  —  you  see.  Ugh,  ugh,  yes.  Hear 
your  little  ones,  Marit!  —  But  it  was  the  brick  wall, 
you  see.  Right  here  was  a  swamp  hole ;  it  oozed 
through  from  the  brook  above.  And  now — see  the 
drain  there? — as  dry  as  tinder." 

Now  or  never  the  petition  must  be  presented. 

"And  now  they  live  like  lords  all  together  there," 
continued  the  captain. 

"All  seven  of  the  dollars — what  am  I  saying,  all 
five  of  the  pigs." 

"What?" 

"  Here  is  your  hat,  father ! " — Jorgen  came  from 
the  house — "and  there  are  some  of  the  people 
down  from  Fosse  standing  there  and  waiting." 

"So?  We  will  only  just  look  into  the  stable  a 
httle." 

There  stood  Svarten  and  Brunen,  just  unhar- 


so  THE  FAMILY  AT  GILJE 

nessed,  still  dripping  wet  and  with  stiff  hair  after 
the  work  at  the  plough. 

"  Fine  stall,eh  ? — and  very  light ;  the  horses  don't 
come  out  of  the  door  half  blind.  Ho,  Svarten,  are 
you  sweaty  now?" 

There  was  a  warm  and  pleasant  smell  of  the  sta- 
ble— and  finally  — 

"Captain,  I  am  going  to  make  a  re  — " 

"  But,  Ola,"  interrupted  the  latter, "see  Brunen's 
crib  there!  I  don't  like  those  bits.  It  can't  be  that 
he  bites  it?" 

"Ha,  ha,  ha  —  no,  by  no  means."  Ola  grinned 
slyly ;  he  was  not  going  to  admit  in  a  stranger's  pres- 
ence that  the  captain's  new  bay  was  a  cribber ! 

The  captain  had  become  very  red ;  he  pulled  off 
his  cap,  and  hurriedly  walked  along  with  it  in  his 
hand  —  "such  a  rascal  of  a  horse-trader!" 

He  no  longer  looked  as  if  he  would  listen  to  a 
request. 

Out  of  the  afternoon  shade  by  the  stable  walls  the 
two  men  just  spoken  of  appeared. 

"Is  this  a  time  of  day  to  come  to  people?"  he 
blurted  out.  "Ah  well — go  up  to  the  office." 

At  this  he  strode  over  the  yard,  peeped  into  the 
well,  and  turned  towards  the  window  of  the  sitting- 
room. 

"Girls!  Inger-Johanna — Thinka,"  he  called  in 
a  loud  tone.  "Ask  Ma  if  that  piece  of  meat  is  going 
to  lie  there  by  the  well  and  rot." 


CHAPTER  III  51 

"  Marit  has  taken  it  up,  we  are  going  to  have  it 
for  supper,"  Thinka  tried  to  whisper. 

"  Oh!  Is  it  necessary  on  that  account  to  keep  It 
where  Pasop  can  get  it? — Show  the  student  down 
into  the  garden,  so  that  he  can  get  some  currants,"  " 
he  called  out  of  the  door,  as  he  went  up  by  the 
stables  to  his  office. 

Arent  Grip's  head,  covered  with  thick  brown  hair, 
with  the  scanty  flat  cap  upon  it,  could  now  be  seen 
for  a  good  long  time  among  the  currant  bushes  by 
the  side  of  Thinka's  little  tall,  blond  one.  At  first 
he  talked  a  great  deal,  and  the  sprightly,  bright, 
brown  eyes  were  not  in  the  least  wicked,  Thinka 
thought.  She  began  to  feel  rather  a  warm  interest  in 
him. 

He  found  his  boots  in  the  morning  standing 
mended  before  his  bed,  and  a  tray  with  coffee  and 
breakfast  came  up  to  him.  He  had  said  he  must  be 
off  early. 

Now  it  all  depended  on  making  his  decisive  leap 
with  closed  eyes  in  the  dark. 

When  he  came  down,  the  captain  stood  on  the 
stairs  with  his  pipe.  Over  his  fat  neck,  where  the 
buckle  of  his  military  stock  shone,  grayish  locks  of 
hair  stuck  out  under  his  reddish  wig.  He  was  look- 
ing out  a  little  discontentedly  into  the  morning  fog, 
speculating  on  whether  it  would  settle  or  rise  so  that 
he  would  dare  order  the  mowing  to  go  on. 


52  THE  FAMILY  AT  GILJE 

"So  you  are  going  to  start,  my  boy?" 

"Captain,  can  —  will  you  lend  me  —  "  in  his  first 
courage  of  the  morning  he  had  thought  of  five,  but 
it  sank  to  four  even  while  he  was  on  the  stairs,  and 
•now  in  the  presence  of  the  captain  to — "three  dol- 
lars ?  I  have  used  up  every  shilling  I  had  to  get  to 
Christiania  with.  You  shall  have  them  by  money 
order  immediately." 

The  captain  hemmed  and  hawed.  He  had  almost 
suspected  something  of  the  sort  yesterday  in  the  fel- 
low's face  —  yes,  such  a  student  was  the  kind  of  a 
fellow  to  send  back  a  money  order ! 

There  began  to  be  a  sort  of  an  ugly  grin  on  his 
face.  But  suddenly  he  assumed  a  good-natured,  free 
and  easy  mien.  "  Three  dollars,  you  say  ? — If  I  had 
three  in  the  house,  my  boy!  But  here,  by  fits  and 
starts  in  the  summer,  it  is  as  if  the  ready  money  was 
clean  swept  away."  He  stuck  his  unoccupied  hand 
in  the  breast  of  his  uniform  coat,  and  looked  vacantly 
out  into  the  air.  "Ah!  hm-hm,"  came  after  a  dread- 
fully oppressive  pause.  "If  I  was  only  sure  of  get- 
ting them  back  again,  I  would  see  if  I  could  pick  up 
three  or  four  shillings  at  any  rate  in  Ma's  household 
box — so  that  you  could  get  do.wn  to  the  sheriff  or 
the  judge.  They  are  excellent  people,  I  know  them; 
they  help  at  the  first  word." 

The  captain,  puffing  vigorously  at  his  pipe,  went 
into  the  kitchen  to  Ma,  who  was  standing  in  the 


CHAPTER  III  53 

pantry  and  dealing  out  the  breakfast.  She  had  the 
hay-making  and  the  whole  of  the  outside  affairs 
upon  her  shoulders. 

He  was  away  quite  a  little  time. 

"Well,  if  Ma  did  not  have  the  three  dollars  after 
all !  So  I  have  got  them  for  you.  And  so  good-by 
from  Gilje!  Let  us  hear  when  you  get  there." 

"You  shall  hear  in  a  money  order,"  and  the  stu- 
dent strode  jubilantly  away. 

It  is  true  that  at  first  Ma  had  stopped  for  a  mo- 
ment and  pinched  her  lips  together,  and  then  she 
had  declared  as  her  most  settled  opinion  that,  if  the 
captain  was  going  to  help  at  all,  it  must  be  with  all 
three.  He  did  not  seem  one  of  those  who  shirked 
everything — was  not  one  who  was  all  surface —  and 
it  would  not  do  at  all  to  let  him  begatthe  judge's,  the 
sheriff's,  and  perhaps  the  minister's,  because  he 
could  not  get  a  loan  of  more  than  three  shillings  at 
Gilje. 

From  time  to  time  Thinka  told  of  all  that  she  and 
the  student  had  talked  about  together. 

"  What  did  he  say  then .?"  urged  Inger-Johanna. 

"Oh,  he  was  entertaining  almost  all  the  time;  I 
have  never  heard  any  one  so  entertaining." 

"Yes,  but  do  you  remember  that  he  said  any- 
thing?" 

"Oh,    yes,    he   asked   why    you   were   reading 


54  THE  FAMILY  AT  GILJE 

French.  Perhaps  you  were  to  be  trained  to  be  a  par- 
rot, so  that  you  could  chatter  when  you  came  to  the 
city. 

"So, — how  did  he  know  that  I  was  going  to  the 
city?" 

"He  asked  how  old  you  were;  and  then  I  said 
that  you  were  to  be  confirmed  and  to  go  there. 
He  was  very  well  acquainted  at  the  governor's 
house;  he  had  done  extra  writing,  or  something  of 
that  sort,  at  the  office,  since  he  had  been  a  student." 

"That  kind  of  acquaintance,  yes." 

"But  you  wouldn't  suit  exactly  there,  he  said; 
and  do  you  know  why?" 

"No." 

"Do  you  want  to  know?  He  thought  you  had 
too  much  backbone." 

"What— did  he  say?" 

She  wrinkled  her  eyebrows  and  looked  up 
sharply,  so  that  Thinka  hastened  to  add:  "Who- 
ever comes  there  must  be  able  to  wind  like  a  sew- 
ing thread  around  the  governor's  wife,  he  said;  it 
would  be  a  shame  for  your  beautiful  neck  to  get 
a  twist  so  early." 

Inger-Johanna  threw  her  head  back  and  smiled: 
"Did  you  ever  hear  such  a  man!" 


Thinka  had  gone  to  Ryfylke.   Her  place  at  the 
table,  in  the  living-room,  in  the  bed-chamber,  was 


CHAPTER  III  55 

empty  air.  The  captain  started  out  time  after  time 
to  call  her. 

And  now  the  last  afternoon  had  come,  when 
Inger-Johanna  was  also  going  away. 

The  sealskin  trunk  with  new  iron  bands  stood 
open  in  the  hall  ready  for  packing.  The  cariole 
was  standing  in  the  shed,  greased  so  that  the  oil 
was  running  out  of  the  ends  of  the  axles,  and  Great- 
Ola,  who  was  to  start  the  next  morning  on  the  three 
days'  journey,  was  giving  Svarten  oats. 

The  captain  had  been  terribly  busy  that  day: 
no  one  understood  how  to  pack  as  he  did. 

Ma  handed  over  to  him  one  piece  of  the  new 
precious  stuff  after  the  other;  the  linen  from  Gilje 
would  bear  the  eye  of  the  governor's  wife. 

But  the  misfortune  of  it  was  that  the  blood 
rushed  so  to  Jager's  head  when  he  stooped  over. 

"Hullo,  good!  I  don't  understand  what  you 
are  thinking  of.  Ma,  to  come  with  all  that  load  of 
cotton  stockings  at  once!  It  is  this,  this,  this  I 
want." 

Naturally,  used  to  travelling  as  he  was — "  But  it 
is  so  bad  for  you  to  stoop  over,  Jager." 

He  straightened  up  hurriedly.  "Do  you  think 
Great-Ola  has  the  wit  to  rub  Svarten  with  Riga 
liniment  on  the  bruise  on  his  neck  and  to  take  the 
bottle  with  him  in  his  bag?  If  I  had  not  thought 
of  that  now,  Svarten  would  have  had  to  trot  with 
it.  Run  down  and  tell  him  that,  Thea.  —  Oh,  no! " 


56  THE  FAMILY  AT  GILJE 

he  drew  a  despairing  breath;  "I  must  go  myself, 
and  see  that  it  is  done  right." 

There  was  a  pause  until  his  footfall  had  ceased 
to  creak  on  the  lowest  step.  Then  Ma  began  to 
pack  with  precipitous  haste:  "It  is  best  to  spare 
your  father  from  the  rush  of  blood  to  his  head." 

The  contents  of  the  trunk  rose  layer  upon  layer, 
until  the  white  napkin  was  at  last  spread  over  it 
and  covered  the  whole,  and  it  only  remained  to  sit 
upon  the  lid  and  force  the  key  to  turn  in  the  lock. 

Towards  supper  time  the  worst  hubbub  and 
trouble  were  over.  Ma's  hasty-pudding,  as  smooth 
as  velvet,  with  raspberry  sauce,  was  standing  on  the 
table,  and  solemnly  reminded  them  that  again  there 
would  be  one  less  in  the  daily  circle. 

They  ate  in  silence  without  any  other  sound 
than  the  rattling  of  the  spoons. 

"  There,  child,  take  my  large  cup.  Take  it  when 
your  father  bids  you." 

Certainly  she  is  beautiful,  the  apple  of  his  eye. 
Only  look  at  her  hands  when  she  is  eating!  She 
is  as  delicate  and  pale  as  a  nun. 

He  sighed,  greatly  down-hearted,  and  shoved 
his  plate  from  him. 

Tears  burst  from  I nger- Johanna's  eyes. 

No  one  would  have  any  more. 

Now  he  walked  and  whistled  and  gazed  on  the 
floor. 

It  was  a  pity  to  see  how  unhappy  father  was. 


CHAPTER  III  57 

"You  must  write  every  month,  child — at  length 
and  about  everything — do  you  hear? — large  and 
small,  whatever  you  are  thinking  of,  so  that  your 
father  may  have  something  to  take  pleasure  in," 
Ma  admonished,  while  they  were  clearing  off  the 
table.  "And  listen  now,  Inger-Johanna,"  she  con- 
tinued when  they  were  alone  in  the  pantry:  "If  it 
is  so  that  the  governor's  wife  wants  to  read  your 
letters,  then  put  a  little  cross  by  the  signature. 
But  if  there  is  anything  the  matter,  tell  it  to  old 
Aunt  Alette  out  in  the  bishop's  mansion;  then  I 
shall  know  it  when  Great-Ola  is  in  for  the  city 
load.  You  know  your  father  can  bear  so  little  that 
is  disagreeable." 

"  The  governor's  wife  read  what  I  write  to  you 
and  father!  That  I  will  defy  her  to  do." 

"You  must  accommodate  yourself  to  her  wishes, 
child.  You  can  do  it  easily  when  you  try,  and  your 
aunt  is  extremely  kind  and  good  to  those  she  likes, 
when  she  has  things  her  own  way.  You  know  how 
much  may  depend  on  her  liking  you,  and — you 
understand — getting  a  little  fond  of  you.  She  has 
certainly  not  asked  you  there  without  thinking  of 
keeping  you  in  the  place  of  a  daughter." 

"Any  one  else's  daughter?  Take  me  from  you 
and  father  ?  No,  in  that  case  I  would  rather  never 
go  there." 

She  seated  herself  on  the  edge  of  the  meal-chest 
and  began  to  sob  violently. 


58  THE  FAMILY  AT  GILJE 

"  Come,  come,  Inger-Johanna."  Ma  stroked  her 
hair  with  her  hand.  "  We  do  not  wish  to  lose  you ; 
you  know  that  well  enough,"  —  her  voice  trembled. 
"  It  is  for  your  own  advantage,  child.  What  do  you 
think  you  three  girls  have  to  depend  upon,  if  your 
father  should  be  taken  away  ?  We  must  be  glad  if 
a  place  offers,  and  even  take  good  care  not  to  lose 
it;  remember  that,  always  remember  that,  Inger- 
Johanna.  You  have  intelligence  enough,  if  you  can 
also  learn  to  control  your  will ;  that  is  your  danger, 
child." 

Inger-Johanna  looked  up  at  her  mother  with 
an  expression  almost  of  terror.  She  had  a  bitter 
struggle  to  understand.  In  her,  in  whom  she  had 
always  found  aid,  there  was  suddenly  a  glimpse  of 
the  helpless. 

"  I  can  hardly  bear  to  lose  the  young  one  out 
of  my  sight  to-night,  and  you  leave  me  alone  in 
there,"  came  the  captain,  creaking  in  the  door. 
"You  have  n't  a  thought  of  how  desolate  and  lone- 
some it  will  be  for  me.  Ma."  He  blew  out  like  a 
whale. 

"  We  are  all  coming  in  now,  and  perhaps  father 
will  sing  a  little  this  evening,"  Ma  said  encourag- 
ingly. 

The  captain's  fine,  now  a  little  hoarse,  bass  was 
his  pride  and  renown  from  his  youth  up. 

The  clavichord  was  cleared  of  its  books  and  papers 


CHAPTER  III  59 

—  the  cover  must  be  entirely  lifted  when  father  was 
to  sing. 

It  stood  there  with  its  yellow  teeth,  its  thin,  high 
tone,  and  its  four  dead  keys;  and  Ma  must  play 
the  accompaniment,  in  which  always,  in  some  part 
or  other,  she  was  left  lying  behind,  like  a  sack  that 
has  fallen  out  of  a  wagon,  while  the  horse  patiently 
trots  on  over  the  road.  His  impatience  she  bore 
with  stoical  tranquillity. 

This  evening  he  went  through  Heimkringlas 
panna,  du  hoga  Nordy  and  Vikingehalken^  to 

Lo!  the  chased  empress  cometh!  Hapless  Frithjof^  glance 


away  I 


Like  a  star  on  spring  cloud  sitteth  she  upon  her  courser  gray. 
He  sang  so  that  the  window-panes  rattled. 


Chapter  IV 

THE  year  had  turned.  It  was  as  long  after 
Christmas  as  the  middle  of  February. 

In  the  evening  the  captain  was  sitting,  with  two 
candles  in  tin  candlesticks,  smoking  and  reading 
Hermoder.  At  the  other  end  of  the  table  the  light 
was  used  by  Jorgen,  who  was  studying  his  lessons; 
he  must  worry  out  the  hours  that  had  been  assigned, 
whether  he  knew  the  lessons  or  not. 

The  frosty  panes  shone  almost  as  white  as  marble 
in  the  moonlight,  which  printed  the  whole  of  a  pale 
window  on  the  door  panel  in  the  lower,  unlighted 
end  of  the  sitting-room. 

Certainly  there  were  bells! 

J.6rgen  raised  his  head,  covered  with  coarse,  yel- 
low hair,  from  his  book.  It  was  the  second  time  he 
had  heard  them,  far  away  on  the  hill ;  but,  like  the 
sentinels  of  Haakon  Adelstensfostre  at  the  beacon, 
of  whom  he  was  just  reading,  he  did  not  dare  to 
jump  up  from  his  reading  and  give  the  alarm  until 
he  was  sure. 

"  I  think  there  are  bells  on  the  road,"  he  gently 
remarked,  "far  off." 

"Nonsense!  attend  to  your  lesson." 

But,  notwithstanding  he  pretended  that  he  was 
deeply  absorbed  in  the  esthetic  depths  of  He7'- 
moder^  the  captain  also  sat  with  open  ears. 


CHAPTER  IV  6i 

"The  trader's  bells — they  are  so  dull  and  low," 
Jorgen  put  in  again. 

"  If  you  disturb  me  again,  Jorgen,  you  shall  hear 
the  bells  about  your  own  ears." 

The  trader,  Ojseth,  was  the  last  one  the  captain 
could  think  of  wishing  to  see  at  the  farm.  He  kept 
writing  and  writing  after  those  paltry  thirty  dollars 
of  his,  as  if  he  believed  he  would  lose  them.  "Hm! 
hm!"  He  grew  somewhat  red  in  the  face,  and  read 
on,  determined  not  to  see  the  man  before  he  was 
standing  in  the  room. 

The  bells  plainly  stopped  before  the  door. 

"Hm!  hm!" 

Jorgen  moved  uneasily. 

"  If  you  move  off  the  spot,  boy,  I  '11  break  your 
arms  and  legs  in  pieces ! "  foamed  the  captain,  now 
red  as  copper.  "Sit — sit  still  and  read!" 

He  intended  also  to  sit  still  himself.  That  scoun- 
drel of  a  trader — he  should  fasten  his  horse  him- 
self at  the  doorsteps,  and  help  himself  as  he  could. 

"I  hear  them  talking — Great-Ola." 

"Hold  your  tongue!"  said  the  captain  in  a  mur- 
derous deep  bass,  and  with  a  pair  of  eyes  fixed  on 
his  son  as  if  he  could  eat  him. 

"Yes;  but,  father,  it  is  really — " 

A  pull  on  his  forelock  and  a  box  on  the  ears 
sent  him  across  the  floor. 

"The  doctor,"  roared  Jorgen. 


62  THE  FAMILY  AT  GILJE 

The  truth  of  his  martyrdom  was  estabhshed  in 
the  same  moment,  because  the  short,  square  form 
of  the  miHtary  doctor  appeared  in  the  door. 

His  fur  coat  was  all  unbuttoned,  and  the  tip  of 
his  long  scarf  trailed  behind  him  on  the  threshold. 
He  held  his  watch  out:  "What  time  is  it?" 

"  Now,  then,  may  the  devil  take  your  body  and 
soul  to  hell,  where  you  long  ago  belonged,  if  it  isn't 
you,  Rist!" 

"What  time  is  it?  I  say — Look!" 

"And  here  I  go  and  lick  Jorgen  for — well,  well, 
boy,  you  shall  be  excused  from  your  lesson  and  can 
ask  for  syrup  on  your  porridge  this  evening.  Go 
out  to  Ma,  and  tell  her  Rist  is  here." 

The  captain  opened  the  kitchen  door:  "Hullo, 
Marit!  Siri!  A  girl  in  here  to  pull  off  the  doctor's 
boots!  All  the  diseases  of  the  country  are  in  your 
clothes." 

"What  time  is  it,  I  say — can  you  see?" 

"Twenty-five  minutes  of  seven." 

"Twenty-one  miles  in  two  hours  and  a  quarter 
— from  Jolstad  here,  with  my  bay!" 

The  doctor  had  got  his  fur  coat  off.  The  short, 
muscular  man,  with  broad  face  and  reddish-gray 
whiskers,  stood  there  in  a  fur  cap,  swallowed  up  in 
a  pair  of  long  travelling  boots. 

"  No,  no,"  he  exclaimed  to  the  girl,  who  was  mak- 
ing an  effort  to  pull  them  off.  "Oh,  listen,  Jager; 


I 


CHAPTER  IV  63 

will  you  go  out  and  feel  of  the  bay's  hind  leg,  if  there 
is  a  wind-gall?  He  began  to  stumble  a  little,  just 
here  on  the  hill,  I  thought,  and  to  limp." 

"He  has  very  likely  got  bruised."  The  captain 
eagerly  grabbed  his  hat  from  the  clavichord  and 
went  with  him. 

Outside  by  the  sleigh  they  stood,  thinly  clothed 
in  the  severe  frost,  and  felt  over  the  hamstring  and 
lifted  up  the  left  hind  foot  of  the  bay.  For  a  final 
examination,  they  went  into  the  stable. 

When  they  came  out  there  was  a  veritable  wild 
dispute. 

"  I  tell  you,  you  might  just  as  well  have  said  he 
had^landers  in  his  hind  legs.  If  you  are  not  a  bet- 
ter judge  of  curing  men  than  you  are  of  horses,  I 
would  n't  give  four  shillings  for  your  whole  medi- 
cal examination." 

"That  brown  horse  of  yours,  Jager — that  is  a 
strange  fodder  he  takes.  Does  n't  he  content  him- 
self with  crib-splinters?"  retorted  the  doctor,  slyly 
bantering. 

"What?  Did  you  see  that,  you — knacker?" 

"  Heard  it,  heard  it;  he  gnawed  like  a  saw  there 
in  the  crib.  He  has  cheated  you  unmercifully  —  that 
man  from  Filtvedt,  you  know." 

"  Oh,  oh,  in  a  year  he  will  be  tall  enough  for  a  cav- 
alry horse.  But  this  I  shall  concede,  it  was  a  good 
trade  when  you  got  the  bay  for  sixty-five." 


64  THE  FAMILY  AT  GILJE 

"  Sixty  and  a  binding  dram,  not  a  doit  more.  But 
I  would  not  sell  him,  if  you  offered  me  a  hundred 
on  the  spot." 

Ma  was  waiting  in  her  parlor. 

Now,  it  was  Aslak  of  Vaelta  who  had  cut  his  foot 
last  Thursday  hewing  timber — Ma  had  bandaged 
him — and  then  Anders,  who  lived  in  the  cottage, 
was  in  a  lung  fever.  The  parish  clerk  had  been 
there  and  bled  him;  six  children  up  in  that  hut — 
not  good  if  he  should  be  taken  away. 

"We  will  put  a  good  Spanish-fly  blister  on  his 
back,  and,  if  that  does  not  make  him  better,  then 
a  good  bleeding  in  addition." 

"He  came  near  fainting  the  last  time,"  suggested 
Ma,  doubtfully. 

"Bleed — bleed — it  is  the  blood  which  must  be 
got  away  from  the  chest,  or  the  inflammation  will 
make  an  end  of  him.  I  will  go  and  see  him  to-mor- 
row morning — and  for  Thea's  throat,  camphor  oil 
and  a  piece  of  woollen  cloth,  and  to  bed  to  sweat — 
and  a  good  spoonful  of  castor-oil  to-night — you 
can  also  rub  the  old  beggar  woman  about  the  body 
with  camphor,  if  she  complains  too  much.  I  will  give 
you  some  more." 

After  supper  the  old  friend  of  the  house  sat  with 
his  pipe  and  his  glass  of  punch  at  one  end  of  the 
sofa,  and  the  captain  at  the  other.  The  red  tint  of 
the  doctor's  nose  and  cheeks  was  not  exclusively  to 
be  attributed  to  the  passage  from  the  cold  to  the 


CHAPTER  IV  65 

snug  warmth  of  the  room.  He  had  the  reputation  of 
rather  frequently  consoling  his  bachelorhood  with 
ardent  spirits. 

They  had  talked  themselves  tired  about  horses 
and  last  year's  reminiscences  of  the  camp,  and  had 
now  come  to  more  domestic  affairs. 

"The  news,  you  see,  is  blown  here  both  from  the 
city  and  the  West;  old  Aunt  Alette  wrote  before 
Christmas  that  the  governor's  wife  had  found  out 
she  must  drive  with  both  snaffle  and  curb." 

"I  thought  so,"  said  the  doctor,  chewing  his 
mouthpiece.  "The  first  thing  of  importance  in 
managing  is  to  study  the  nature  of  the  beast;  and 
Inger-Johanna's  is  to  rear;  she  must  be  treated 
gently." 

"And  that  sister-in-law  never  believed  that  so 
much  inborn  stuff  could  grow  up  in  the  wild  moun- 
tain region." 

The  captain  began  to  pufFimpatiently.  Ma  would 
surely  sometime  get  supper  ready  and  come  in,  so 
he  could  get  to  his  daughter's  letters. 

"You  can  believe  he  is  a  real  pelican,  that  old 
judge  down  in  Ryfylke!  Orders  them  round  and 
bellows  —  keeps  them  hot  both  in  the  office  and  in 
the  house.  I  wonder  if  he  won't  sometime  apply  for 
an  office  somewhere  else;  for  that  is  what  he  threatens 
to  do  every  time  he  sees  an  office  vacant,  Thinka 
writes.  Let  us  have  the  letters,  Ma,  and  my  spec- 
tacles," he  exclaimed,  when  she  came  in.  "The  first 


66  THE  FAMILY  AT  GILJE 

is  of  November,  so  you  shall  hear  about  your  god- 
daughter's coming  to  the  governor's,  Rist." 

He  hummed  over  a  part  of  the  beginning  and 
then  read: 

When  Great-Ola  put  my  baggage  inside  the  street 
door,  I  almost  wanted  to  seat  myself  in  the  cariole 
and  drive  the  three  days  home  again;  but  then  at 
once  I  thought,  best  to  march  straight  on,  as  father 
says!  I  went  past  the  servant  and  inside  the  hall 
door.  It  was  very  light  there,  and  a  great  many  out- 
side garments  and  hats  and  caps  were  hanging  on 
the  pegs,  and  twice  two  servant-girls  flew  through 
with  trays  and  teacups,  without  troubling  them- 
selves about  me  in  the  least.  But  I  thought  that  the 
one  who  had  fallen  into  the  midst  of  things  was  your 
beloved  daughter.  My  outside  garments  were  off  in 
a  jiffy;  I  knocked  once,  twice,  three  times.  I  hardly 
knew  what  to  do  with  myself,  so  I  gently  turned 
the  knob.  Thank  heaven,  there  was  no  one  there. 
There  was  another  door  with  a  portiere,  which  I 
only  needed  to  shove  a  little  aside,  and  then — I  was 
plunged  right  into  the  centre  of  it.  Nay,  how  shall 
I  describe  it.^  It  was  a  corner  room  that  I  had  en- 
tered: there  was  only  mahogany  furniture  and  up- 
holstered easy  chairs,  and  pictures  in  gilded  frames 
over  the  sofa;  the  other  pictures  were  in  dark 
frames;  but  I  did  not  see  a  doit  of  all  that,  for  I 
thought  at  first  that  it  was  dark.  But  it  was  n't  dark 


CHAPTER  IV  67 

at  all.  There  was  just  a  shade  over  the  astral  lamp 
on  the  table,  and  neither  more  nor  less  than  a  whole 
company.  There  in  the  lion's  den,  with  the  married 
ladies  on  the  corner  sofa,  sat  a  number  of  people 
drinking  tea. 

I  stood  there  in  the  middle  of  the  floor,  and  the 
reddish  brown  linsey-woolsey,  I  believed,  could 
surely  defend  itself 

"Aunt  Zittow,"  I  ventured. 

"Who  is  it? — What?  Can  it  be  my  dear  Inger- 
Johanna?  My  husband's  niece!"  was  said  from  the 
table.  "You  have  come  just  like  a  wild  mountain 
rose,  child,  with  the  rain  still  on  your  face — and  so 
cold!"  as  she  touched  me.  But  I  saw  very  well  that 
she  had  her  eye  on  my  dress.  I  am  sure  it  is  too  long 
in  the  waist,  I  thought;  that  is  what  I  said  at  home. 
But  then  I  forgot  the  whole  dress,  for  it  was  indeed 
my  aunt,  and  she  embraced  me  and  said,  "You  are 
heartily  welcome,  my  dear  child !  I  think  now  a  cup 
of  good  hot  tea  will  do  her  good.  Miss  Jorgensen, — 
and  will  you  ask  Mina  to  put  her  room  in  order  up- 
stairs ! "  And  then  she  seated  me  on  a  soft  cushioned 
chair  by  the  side  of  the  wall. 

There  I  sat  in  the  twilight,  with  a  teacup  in  my 
lap,  and  biscuits — how  I  got  them  I  cannot  remem- 
ber— and  thought,  is  it  I  or  not  I  ? 

At  first  it  was  not  easy  to  see  those  who  sat  about 
in  the  soft  stuflTed  chairs;  what  I  saw  nearest  to  me 
was  a  piece  of  a  foot,  with  spurs  and  a  broad  red 


68  THE  FAMILY  AT  GILJE 

stripe  along  the  side,  which  rocked  up  and  down  the 
whole  time.  Now  and  then  a  head  with  a  fine  lace 
cap  bobbed  up  into  the  light  to  put  down  a  cup  or 
to  replenish  it.  The  lamp-shade  made  just  a  round 
ring  in  the  room,  not  a  foot  from  the  table. 

Oh,  how  warm  and  delicate  it  was ! 

In  the  light  under  the  astral  lamp-shade,  aunt  was 
sitting,  bowed  down  over  a  little  black  contrivance 
with  the  image  of  a  negro  on  it,  and  was  burning 
pastilles;  her  hair,  on  both  sides  of  her  forehead, 
was  made  into  stiff,  grayish  curls. 

The  bright,  shining  tea-kettle  stood  singing  over 
the  beautiful  blue  cups  of  that  old  Copenhagen 
porcelain,  of  which  you  have  four  pairs  in  the  cab- 
inet, which  came  from  grandmother's.  I  could  not 
help  looking  all  the  time  on  aunt's  face,  with  the 
great  earrings  showing  through  the  lace.  I  thought 
the  antique  tea-kettle,  which  is  like  a  vase  or  urn, 
resernbled  her  so  much,  with  the  haughty  stiff 
curve  of  her  chin!  It  was  just  as  if  they  belonged 
together  from  —  I  don't  know  from  what  time,  it 
could  not  be  from  the  time  of  the  creation,  I  sup- 
pose. And  then  when  the  conversation  among  them 
came  to  a  stop  and  it  was  still  as  if  there  were  not  a 
human  being  there,  the  machine  puffed  and  snorted 
as  it  were  with  aunt's  fine  Danish  twist  to  the  R: 
Arvetl  Arvetl  (inherited) — and  in  between  it  bub- 
bled Zittow,  von  Zittow.  It  was  what  you  told  me. 


CHAPTER  IV  69 

mother,  about  the  Danish  Zittow,  who  was  diplo- 
matist in  Brussels,  that  was  buzzing  in  me. 

"The  young  one!  She  has  got  it  in  her  blood," 
whinnied  the  doctor. 

But  it  really  did  not  look  as  if  aunt  thought  there 
was  any  hurry  about  seeing  uncle.  And  then  when 
aunt  sent  Miss  Jorgensen  with  some  tea  into  the 
next  room,  where  they  were  playing  cards,  I  at  once 
asked  if  I  could  be  allowed  to  go  with  her. 

"With  all  my  heart,  my  child,  it  would  be  a 
shame  to  tax  your  patience  any  longer.  And  then. 
Miss  Jorgensen,  take  our  little  traveller  up  to  her 
room,  and  see  that  she  has  something  to  eat,  and 
let  her  go  to  bed."  But  I  saw  very  plainly  that  she 
pulled  the  lamp-shade  down  on  the  side  I  was  go- 
ing; that  I  thought  of  afterwards. 

"What?  what?  what?"  said  my  uncle.  You 
should  have  seen  him  gaze  at  me.  He  looked  so 
much  like  you,  mother,  about  the  forehead  and 
eyes  that  I  threw  my  arms  around  his  neck. 

He  held  me  before  him  with  his  arms  stretched 
out.  "But  really  I  think  it  is  Aunt  Eleonore  all 
over!  Well,  well,  now  don't  fancy  you  are  such  a 
beauty!" 

That  was  the  reception. 

Shortly  after  I  was  lying  in  bed  in  my  elegant 


70  THE  FAMILY  AT  GILJE 

little  blue  room,  with  curtains  with  long  fringes. 
There  were  pastilles  on  the  stove,  and  Miss  Jor- 
gensen — just  think,  she  called  me  Miss! — almost 
undressed  me  and  put  me  between  all  the  soft  down 
quilts. 

There  I  lay  and  thought  it  all  over,  and  became 
hotter  and  hotter  in  my  head  and  face,  till  at  last 
it  seemed  as  if  I  was  thumping  in  the  cariole  with 
Svarten  and  Ola. 

"No,  the  cariole  came  home  again  empty,"  said 
the  captain  with  a  sigh. 

"  Look  out  if  you  don't  get  her  back  to  Gilje 
again  in  a  carriage,"  added  the  doctor. 

"She  was  so  handsome,  Rist,"  exclaimed  the 
captain,  quite  moved.  "It  seems  as  if  I  see  her, 
standing  there  in  the  middle  of  the  floor  at  brother- 
in-law's,  with  her  heavy  black  hair  dressed  upon  her 
neck.  From  the  time  when  she  used  to  run  about 
here,  with  the  three  long  braids  down  her  back,  it  was 
as  if  she  developed  into  a  swan  all  at  once,  when  she 
came  to  dress  in  the  clothes  of  a  full-grown  person — 
You  remember  her  on  confirmation  day,  Rist.''" 

"But,  dear  Jager,"  said  Ma,  trying  to  subdue 
him. 

The  captain  cautiously  unfolded  a  letter,  closely 
written  on  a  large  sheet  of  letter  paper. 

"And  now  you  shall  hear;  this  is  dated  Janu- 
ary 23d." 


CHAPTER  IV  71 

The  money  which  I  brought  with  me — 

"Well,  well— " 

The  bill  of  Larsen  for — 

"You  can  certainly  skip  over  to  the  next  page," 
remarked  Ma  with  a  certain  emphasis. 

"Well,  yes,  hm,  hm, —  mere  trifles  —  here  it  is." 

To  think  that  father,  and  you  also,  mother,  cannot 
see  my  two  new  dresses!  Aunt  is  inconceivably 
good.  It  is  impossible  to  walk  any  other  way  than 
beautifully  in  this  kind  of  shoes;  and  that  aunt 
says  I  do;  it  is  just  as  if  you  always  felt  a  dancing- 
floor  under  your  feet.  And  yesterday  aunt  gave 
me  a  pair  of  patent  leather  sandals  with  buckles 
on  the  ankles.  Did  you  ever  hear  of  such!  Yes — I 
kissed  her  for  that,  too,  this  time ;  she  could  say 
what  she  liked.  For  you  must  know,  she  says  that 
the  first  rule  of  life  for  a  lady  is  a  kind  of  confi- 
dent, reserved  repose,  which,  however,  may  be 
cordial!  I  have  it  naturally,  aunt  says,  and  only 
need  to  cultivate  it.  I  am  going  to  learn  to  play 
on  the  piano  and  go  through  a  regular  course  of 
lessons  in  dancing. 

Aunt  is  so  extremely  good  to  me,  only  she  will 
have  the  windows  shut  when  I  want  them  open. 
Of  course  I  don't  mean  in  the  sitting-room,  where 


72  THE  FAMILY  AT  GILJE 

they  have  pasted  themselves  in  with  double  panes, 
but  up  in  my  own  room.  Just  fancy,  first  double 
windows  and  then  stuffy  curtains,  and  then  all  the 
houses,  which  are  near  us  across  the  street;  you 
can't  breathe,  and  much  use  it  is  to  air  out  the 
rooms  by  the  two  upper  panes  twice  a  day! 

Aunt  says  that  I  shall  gradually  get  accustomed 
to  the  city  air.  But  I  don't  see  how  I  can,  when  I 
never  get  acquainted  with  it.  Not  once  during  the 
whole  winter  have  I  frozen  my  fingers !  We  go  out 
for  a  short  drive  in  the  forenoon,  and  then  I  go 
with  aunt  in  the  shops  in  the  afternoon,  and  that 
is  the  whole  of  it.  And  you  can  believe  it  is  quite 
another  thing  to  go  out  here  than  at  home ;  when 
I  only  jumped  over  a  little  pile  of  shovelled-up 
snow,  in  order  to  get  into  the  sleigh  more  quickly, 
aunt  said  that  every  one  could  instantly  see  man- 
ners from  my  state  of  nature,  as  she  always  says. 
For  all  the  movements  I  make,  I  might  just  as  well 
have  chains  on  both  legs,  like  the  prisoners  we  see 
some  days  in  the  fort. 

And  now  aunt  wants  me  not  to  go  bare-footed 
on  the  floor  of  my  chamber.  Nay,  you  should  have 
seen  her  horror  when  I  told  her  how  Thinka  and 
I,  at  the  time  of  the  breaking  up  of  the  ice  last  ■ 
year,  waded  across  the  mill  stream  in  order  to  I 
avoid  the  roundabout  way  by  the  bridge!  At  last 
I  got  her  to  laughing  with  me.  But  I  certainly 
believe  that  the  pair  of  elegant  slippers  with  swans- 


CHAPTER  IV  73 

down  on  them,  which  stuck  out  of  a  package  this 
morning,  are  for  me !  You  see  now,  it  is  into  them, 
nevertheless,  that  my  sweet  little  will  must  be  put. 

"  She  is  on  her  guard  lest  they  should  want  to  put 
a  halter  about  her  neck,"  mumbled  the  doctor. 

Ma  sighed  deeply.  "Such  sweet  small  wills  are 
so  apt  to  grow  into  big  ones,  and" — again  a  sigh 
— "women  don't  get  on  in  the  world  with  that." 

The  doctor  looked  meditatively  down  into  his 
glass:  "One  of  woman's  graces  is  flexibility,  they 
say;  but  on  the  other  hand,  she  is  called  'proud 
maiden '  in  the  ballad.  There  is  something  like  a 
contradiction  in  that." 

"Oh,  the  devil!  Divide  them  into  two  platoons! 
It  is  mostly  the  ugly  who  have  to  be  pliable,"  said 
the  captain. 

"  Beauty  does  not  last  so  very  long,  and  so  it  is 
best  to  think  of  the  years  when  one  has  to  be  ac- 
commodating," remarked  Ma,  down  in  her  knit- 
ting-work. 

The  captain  continued  reading  the  letter. 

The  French  is  done  in  a  twinkling.  I  am  always 
ready  with  that  before  breakfast,  and  aunt  is  so 
contented  with  my  pronunciation;  but  then  the 
piano  comes  from  nine  to  eleven.  Ugh!  only  ex- 
ercises; and  then  aunt  receives  calls.  Guess  who 
came  day  before  yesterday  ?  No  one  else  than  Stu- 


74  THE  FAMILY  AT  GILJE 

dent  Grip.  It  was  just  as  if  I  must  have  known 
him  ever  so  well,  and  liked  him  even  better,  so 
glad  was  I  at  last  to  see  any  one  who  knew  about 
us  at  home.  But  just  think,  I  am  not  entirely  sure 
that  he  did  not  try  to  dictate  to  aunt;  and  then  he 
had  the  boldness  to  look  at  me  as  if  I  should  agree 
with  him.  Aunt  helped  him  to  a  place  in  uncle's 
office,  because  she  heard  that  he  had  passed  such  an 
excellent  examination  and  was  so  gifted,  but  had 
almost  nothing  from  home  to  study  on. 

"I  ventured  my  three  dollars  on  him — But  how 
the  fellow  could  manage  to  take  such  high  honors 
passes  my  comprehension,"  threw  out  the  captain. 

"  But  he  repaid  them  all  right,  Jager,  with  post- 
age and  everything." 

The  captain  held  the  letter  up  to  the  light  again. 

And  then  aunt  thought  he  would  be  the  better  for 
a  little  polish  in  his  ways,  and  enjoined  him  to 
come  to  her  fortnightly  receptions;  she  likes  to  have 
young  people  about  her;  but  he  let  aunt  see  that 
he  regarded  that  as  a  command  and  compulsion. 
And  now  he  came  in  fact  to  make  a  sort  of  excuse. 
But  how  they  talked! 

"Well,  then,  we  shall  see  you  again  at  some  of 
our  Thursday  evenings?"  said  aunt. 

"Your  ladyship  no  doubt  remembers  the  occa- 
sion of  my  remaining  away.  It  was  my  ill-bred  ob- 


CHAPTER  IV  75 

jections  to  the  seven  unanimous  teacups  which  gave 
supreme  judgment  in  your  celebrated  small  tea- 
fights." 

"See,  see,  see,"  aunt  smiled.  "I  can't  be  wrong 
when  I  say  that  you  are  really  made  for  social  life ; 
there  is  need  just  there  for  all  one's  best  sides." 

"All  one's  smoothest,  your  ladyship  means." 

"Well,  well,  no  falling  back,  Mr.  Grip,  I  beg 

>» 
you. 

"I  did  my  best,  your  ladyship;  for  I  really 
thought  all  one's  most  mendacious." 

"Now  you  are  in  the  humor  of  contradiction 
again;  and  there  one  gets  entangled  so  easily,  you 
know." 

"  I  only  think  that  when  one  does  not  agree  with 
what  is  said,  and  keeps  silent,  one  lies." 

"Then  people  offer  up  to  good  form,  without 
which  no  social  intercourse  can  exist." 

"Yes,  what  do  they  offer  up.?  Truth!" 

"Perhaps  more  correctly  a  little  of  their  vanity, 
an  opportunity  of  exhibiting  some  bright  and  shin- 
ing talent;  that  tempts  young  men  greatly,  I  be- 
lieve. 

"Possible,  not  impossible  at  any  rate,"  he  ad- 
mitted. 

"  Do  you  see  ? "  But  then  aunt  said,  for  she  never 
abandons  her  text:  "A  little  good  manners  is  not 
out  of  place;  and  when  I  see  a  bright  young  student 
stand  talking  with  his  hands  in  his  pockets,  or  rid- 


76  THE  FAMILY  AT  GILJE 

ing  backwards  on  a  chair,  then,  whether  the  one 
concerned  takes  my  motherly  candor  ill  or  not,  I 
always  try  by  a  little  hint  to  adjust  the  defects  in 
his  education." 

You  should  have  seen  him!  Hands  out  of  his 
pockets,  and  at  once  he  sat  up  before  her,  as  straight 
as  a  candle. 

"If  all  were  like  your  ladyship,  I  would  recom- 
mend making  calls,"  said  he,  "for  you  are  an  hon- 
est woman." 

"Woman!  We  say,  lady." 

"I  mean  an  honest  governor's  lady;  besides,  I 
don't  at  all  say  a  good-natured ! "  and  then  he  shook 
that  great  brown  lock  of  hair  down  over  his  fore- 
head. 

I  do  not  need  to  wish  for  any  portrait  of  you, 
for  I  lie  thinking,  in  the  evenings,  that  I  am  at 
home.  I  see  father  so  plainly,  walking  up  and  down 
the  room  whistling,  and  then  starting  off  up  the 
office  stairs ;  and  I  pull  your  hair,  Jorgen !  and  poke 
your  head  down  into  the  geography,  so  that  I  get 
you  after  me,  and  we  run  round,  in  one  door  and 
out  another,  up  and  down  in  the  house.  Nay,  I 
long  horribly  at  times.  But  I  must  not  let  aunt  see 
that;  it  would  be  ungrateful.  She  does  not  believe 
that  one  can  exist  anywhere  but  in  a  city. 

And  then  there  are  a  lot  of  things  which  I  have 
been  obliged  to  draw  a  black  mark  through,  be- 
cause I  don't  at  all  understand  them.  Only  think, 


CHAPTER  IV  77 

mother !  Aunt  says,  that  it  may  at  most  be  allow- 
able to  say  that  we  have  cows  at  home ;  but  I  must 
not  presume  to  say  that  any  one  of  them  has  a  calf! 
I  should  like  to  know  how  they  think  we  get  new 
cows,  when  we  kill  the  old  ones  for  Christmas  ? 

Here  the  captain  interpolated  some  inarticulate 
noises.  But  an  expression  of  anxiety  came  over 
Ma's  face,  and  she  said  faintly: 

"That  is  because,  unfortunately,  we  have  not 
been  able  to  keep  the  children  sufficiently  away  from 
the  servants'  room,  and  from  everything  they  hear 
there." 

"You  see,  madam,"  declared  the  doctor,  "  in  the 
city  people  are  so  proper  that  a  hen  hardly  dares  to 
lay  eggs  —  It  is  only  the  products  of  the  efforts  of 
the  land  that  they  are  willing  to  recognize,  I  can 
tell  you." 

"  No,"  the  captain  put  in,  "it  is  not  advisable  for 
a  poor  mare  to  be  so  indiscreet  as  to  have  a  foal 
there." 

His  wife  coughed  gently  and  made  an  errand  to 
her  sewing-table. 

Ma  had  been  gone  upstairs  for  more  than  an  hour, 
and  the  clock  was  getting  on  towards  twelve. 

The  captain  and  the  doctor  were  now  sitting 
somewhat  stupidly  over  the  heeltaps  in  their  mugs, 
a  little  like  the  dying  tallow  candles,  which  stood 


78  THE  FAMILY  AT  GILJE 

with  neglected  wicks,  almost  burned  down  into  the 
sockets  and  running  down. 

"Keep  your  bay,  Rist.  Depend  on  me — he  has 
got  to  get  up  early  who  takes  me  in  on  a  horse — 
with  my  experience,  you  see.  All  the  cavalry  horses 
I  have  picked  out  in  my  time ! " 

The  doctor  sat  looking  down  into  his  glass. 

"You  are  thinking  of  the  cribber,"  said  the  cap- 
tain, getting  into  a  passion;  "but  that  was  the  most 
rascally  villainy — pure  cheating.  He  might  have 
been  taken  into  court  for  that — But,  as  I  tell  you, 
keep  your  bay." 

"  I  have  become  a  little  tired  of  him,  you  see." 

"See  there,  see  there, — but  that  is  your  own  fault 
and  not  the  bay's,  my  boy.  You  are  always  tired  of 
the  beast  you  have.  If  you  should  count  all  the 
horses  you  have  swapped,  it  would  be  a  rare  stable." 

"They  spoiled  him  for  driving  when  he  was  a 
colt;  he  is  one-sided,  he  is." 

"  That 's  all  bosh.  I  should  cure  him  of  that  in 
a  fortnight,  with  a  little  breaking  to  harness." 

"  Oh,  I  am  tired  of  sitting  and  pulling  and  haul- 
ing on  one  rein  to  keep  him  out  of  the  side  of  the 
ditch;  if  it  were  not  for  that,  the  beast  should  never 
go  out  of  my  hand.  No,  had  it  been  only  that  he 
made  a  few  splinters  in  the  crib." 

The  captain  assumed  a  thoughtful  expression; 
he  leaned  against  the  back  of  the  sofa,  and  gave  two 
or  three  deep,  strong  pulls  on  his  pipe. 


CHAPTER  IV  79 

"  But  my  Brunen  is  nothing  at  all  to  talk  about — 
a  little  gnawing  only — with  the  one  eye-tooth." 

"  Nay,  my  bay  also  gives  way  only  on  one  side  of 
the  road." 

Again  two  or  three  sounding  puffs.  The  captain 
gave  his  wig  a  poke. 

"If  there  is  any  one  who  could  cure  him  of  that, 
it  is  certainly  I." 

Dense  smoke  poured  out  of  his  pipe. 

Over  in  his  corner  of  the  sofa  the  doctor  began 
to  clean  his  out. 

"  Besides,  my  Brunen  is  a  remarkably  kind  ani- 
mal— thunders  a  little  on  the  crib  down  in  the  stall 
— a  horse  can  hardly  have  less  of  a  fault,  and  then 
so  thoroughly  easy  on  the  rein — knows  if  one  only 
touches  it — so  extremely  sensitive  in  his  mouth — 
a  regular  beauty  to  drive  on  the  country  road." 

"Ye— s,  ye— s;  have  nothing  against  that — fine 
animal!" 

"Look  here,  Rist!  All  things  considered,  that 
was  a  driving  horse  for  you  —  stands  so  obediently, 
if  one  just  lays  the  rein  over  his  back." 

"  Swap  off  the  bay,  do  you  mean  ? "  pondered  the 
doctor,  in  a  doubting  tone, — "hadn't  really  thought 
of  that."  He  shook  his  head — "Only  I  can't  un- 
derstand why  he  is  so  stiffen  one  rein." 

"No,  my  boy;  but  I  can  understand  it." 

"If  you  are  only  not  cheated  in  that,  Jager — 
trade  is  trade,  you  know." 


8o  THE  FAMILY  AT  GILJE 

"I  cheated?  Ha,  ha,  ha!"  The  captain  shook 
with  laughter  and  with  quiet  consciousness.  "Done, 
boy!  We  will  swap." 

"You  are  rather  quick  on  the  rein,  Jager." 

"Always  my  nature,  you  see — to  get  the  thing 
closed  up  at  once,  on  the  nail.  And  so  we  will  take 
a  drink  to  close  the  bargain,"  shouted  the  captain 
eagerly;  he  pulled  his  wig  awry,  and  sprang  up. 

"Let  us  see  if  Ma  has  some  cognac  in  the 
closet." 

What  sort  of  a  trick  was  it  the  horse  had  ? 

The  captain  was  wholly  absorbed  in  breaking  the 
bay  to  harness.  The  horse  turned  his  head  to  the 
right,  and  kept  over  on  the  side  of  the  road  just  as 
far  as  he  could  for  the  rein.  It  was  impossible  to 
find  any  reason  for  it. 

This  morning  he  had  broken  off  one  of  the  trace- 
pins  by  driving  against  the  gate-post.  Was  it  pos- 
sible that  he  was  afraid  of  a  shadow  ?  That  was  an 
idea! — and  the  captain  determined  to  try  him  in 
the  moonlight  that  evening. 

When  he  came  down  to  the  stable  after  dinner, 
he  saw  a  wonderful  sight. 

Great-Ola  had  taken  the  bay  out  of  his  stall,  and 
was  standing  shaking  his  fist  against  the  horse's 
forehead. 

"  Well,  I  have  tried  him  every  way,  Captain,  but 
he  would  n't  wink,  not  even  if  I  broke  his  skull  with 


CHAPTER  IV  8i 

the  back  of  an  axe — he  doesn't  move!  And  now 
see  how  he  jumps!"  He  raised  his  hand  towards 
the  other  side  of  the  horse's  head.  "  But  in  his  left 
eye  he  is  as  bhnd  as  a  shut  cellar  door." 

The  captain  stood  awhile  without  saying  a  word; 
the  veins  on  his  forehead  swelled  up  blue,  and  his 
face  became  as  red  as  the  collar  on  his  uniform  coat. 

"Well,  then."  In  a  rage  he  gave  Ola  a  box  on 
his  ears.  "Are  you  standing  there  threatening  the 
horse,  you  dog?" 

When  Ola  was  feeding  the  horse  at  night,  the 
captain  went  into  the  stall.  He  took  the  lantern 
and  let  it  shine  on  the  bay.  "No  use  to  cure  you 
of  going  into  the  ditch — See  there,  Ola,  take  that 
shilling,  so  that  you  at  all  events  may  profit  by  it." 

Ola's  broad  face  lighted  up  with  cunning.  "The 
doctor  must  provide  himself  with  planks,  for  the 
one  he  got  ate  up  three  two-inch  boards  while  we 
had  him." 

"  Look  here,  Ola,"  nodded  the  captain,  "it  is  not 
worth  while  to  let  him  hear  anything  but  that  the 
bay  can  see  with  both  eyes  here  with  us." 

When  Great-Ola,  in  breaking-up  time  in  spring, 
was  driving  a  load  of  wood  home  from  the  Gilje 
ridge,  he  was  obliged  to  turn  out  on  a  snow-drift 
for  Dr.  Rist,  who  was  coming  in  a  sleigh  from  the 
north. 

"Driving  with  the  bay,  I  see.    Has  the  captain 


82  THE  FAMILY  AT  GILJE 

got  him  so  that  he  's  all  right?  Does  he  cling  just  as 
hard  to  the  side  of  the  road?" 

"  No,  of  course  not.  The  captain  was  the  man  to 
make  that  all  right.  He  is  no  more  one-sided  now 
than  I  am." 

"As  if  I  was  going  to  believe  that,  you  liar," 
mumbled  the  doctor,  while  he  whipped  his  horse 
and  drove  on. 


Chapter  V 

THE  captain  was  in  a  dreadful  humor;  the 
doors  were  banging  the  whole  forenoon. 

At  dinner  time  there  was  a  sultry  breathing  spell, 
during  which  Jorgen  and  Thea  sat  with  their  eyes 
on  their  plates,  extremely  cautious  not  to  give  any 
occasion  for  an  explosion. 

The  fruit  of  Jorgen's  best  exertions  to  keep 
himself  unnoticed  was  nevertheless,  as  usual,  less 
happy.  During  the  soup  he  accidentally  made  a 
loud  noise  in  eating  with  his  spoon  which  led  to  a 
thundering  "Don't  slobber  like  a  hog,  boy." 

After  dinner  the  captain  all  at  once  felt  the  ne- 
cessity of  completing  certain  computations  on  a 
chart  and  surveying  matter  that  had  been  left  since 
the  autumn. 

And  now  it  was  not  advisable  to  come  too  near 
the  office!  He  had  an  almost  Indian  quickness  of 
hearing  for  the  least  noise,  and  was  absolutely  wild 
when  he  was  disturbed. 

It  became  quiet,  a  dead  calm  over  the  whole 
house.  The  spinning-wheel  alone  could  be  heard 
humming  in  the  sitting-room,  and  they  went  gently 
through  the  doors  below,  in  genuine  terror  when 
in  spite  of  all  they  creaked  or  some  one  happened 
to  let  the  trap-door  into  the  cellar  fall  or  make  the 
porch  door  rattle. 


84  THE  FAMILY  AT  GILJE 

How  could  that  foolish  Torbjorg  hit  upon  scour- 
ing the  stairs  now?  When  she  hurriedly  retreated 
with  her  sand  and  pail,  her  open  mouth  and  star- 
ing eyes  showed  plainly  that  she  did  not  compre- 
hend the  peculiar  inward  connection  between  her 
scouring  and  the  captain  who  was  sitting  safely  up 
there  in  his  office :  it  was  enough  that  he  would  fall 
at  once  like  a  tempest  down  from  the  upper  story. 

Now  there  was  a  call  from  up  there. 

He  came  out  from  the  office  with  his  drawing- 
pen  in  his  mouth: 

What  had  become  of  the  old  blue  portfolio  of 
drawings?  It  had  been  lying  on  the  table  in  the  hall 
upstairs  — 

Ma  must  go  up,  and  Thea  and  Jorgen  with  her, 
to  be  questioned. 

There — there  on  the  table — there!  it  had  been 
lying  for  five  months !  Was  it  the  intention  to  make 
him  entirely  miserable  with  all  this  putting  in  order 
and  cleaning? 

"  But  dear,  dear  Jager,  we  shall  find  it,  if  you  will 
only  have  a  little  patience — if  we  only  look  for  it." 

And  there  was  a  search  round  about  everywhere ; 
even  in  the  garret,  under  old  window-panes,  and 
among  tables,  reels,  chests,  and  old  trumpery  they 
ransacked.  In  his  anxious  zeal,  Jorgen  stood  on  his 
head,  digging  deep  down  into  a  barrel,  when  Ma  at 
length  sagaciously  turned  the  investigation  into  the 
office  again.  "On  top  of  the  cabinet  in  the  office 


CHAPTER  V  85 

there  is  a  large  blue  portfolio,  but  you  have  looked 
there,  of  course." 

"There?  I  —  I  should  like  to  know  who  has  pre- 
sumed to  —  " 

He  vanished  into  the  office  again. 

Yes,  there  it  lay. 

He  flung  down  his  ruling-pen;  he  really  was  not 
in  a  mood  to  work  any  longer!  He  sat  looking 
gloomily  out  before  him  with  his  elbows  leaning 
against  his  writing-desk."  It  is  your  fault  I  say,  Ma ! 
— or  was  it  possibly  I  who  had  the  smart  idea  of 
sending  her  to  Ryfylke?"  He  struck  the  desk.  "It 
is  blood  money — blood  money,  I  say!  If  it  is  to 
go  on  in  this  way,  what  shall  we  have  to  get  Jorgen 
on  with?  —  Huf,  it  goes  to  my  head  so — eighteen 
dollars  actually  thrown  into  the  brook." 

"She  must  have  a  Sunday  dress;  Thinka  has 
now  worn  the  clothes  she  brought  from  home  over 
a  year  and  a  half." 

"Even  new  laced  cloth  shoes  from  Stavanger. 
Yes,  indeed,  not  less  than  from  Stavanger — it  is  put 
down  so — "  he  snatched  the  bill  from  the  desk  — 
"and  a  patent  leather  belt,  and  for  half-soling  and 
mending  shoes  two  dollars  and  a  quarter — and 
then  sewing  things !  I  never  heard  that  a  young  girl 
in  a  house  bought  sewing  things — -and  postage  a 
dollar  and  a  half — it  is  wholly  incredible." 

"  For  the  year  and  a  half,  you  must  remember, 
Jager,  fifteen  cents  for  each  letter." 


86  THE  FAMILY  AT  GILJE 

"A  miserly  judge,  I  say,  who  does  not  even  pay 
for  the  letters  which  go  from  the  office !  Now,  why 
did  she  write  last  when  she  had  just  before  sent  mes- 
sages in  the  letter  from  your  sister-in-law  ?  But  there 
it  comes  with  a  vengeance  —  four  and  a  half  yards 
of  silk  ribbon !  Why  did  n't  she  make  it  ten,  twenty 
yards — as  long  as  from  here  to  Ryfylke?  Then  she 
might  have  broken  her  father  at  once ;  for  I  see  what 
it  leads  to." 

"Remember  they  go  on  visits  and  to  parties  at 
the  sheriffs,  the  minister's,  and  the  solicitor's,  very 
often;  we  must  let  her  go  decently  dressed." 

"Oh,  I  never  heard  before  that  daughters  must 
cost  money.  It  is  a  brand-new  rule  you  have  hit  upon ; 
and  what  is  it  coming  to?" 

"He  who  will  not  sow,  Jager,  shall  not  reap." 

"Yes,  don't  you  think  it  looks  like  a  ifine  har- 
vest— this  country  Adonis  there  in  the  office,  who 
casts  sheep's  eyes  at  her — a  poor  clerk  who  does 
not  have  to  pass  an  examination !  But  he  is  so  quick 
at  the  partition  of  inheritances,  ha,  ha." 

Ma  seemed  to  be  a  little  overcome,  and  gazed 
before  her  hopelessly. 

"Ye-es,  Thinka  wrote  that;  he  is  so  quick  in 
the  partition  of  inheritances,  he  is !  Don't  you  think 
that  was  rather  a  nice  introduction  by  her  for  him  ? " 
He  hummed.  "It  is  clear  as  mud  that  she  is  taken 
with  him;  otherwise  your  sister-in-law  would  not 
have  written  about  it  as  she  did." 


CHAPTER  V  87 

"Thinka  has  a  gentle  nature,"  came  the  answer 
somewhat  slowly  and  thoughtfully,  "and  is  certainly 
so  easily  hoodwinked,  poor  thing,  warm  and  suscep- 
tible as  she  is;  but  still  she  has  now  seen  enough 
of  the  world  about  her!" 

"Yes,  the  world  does  not  move  in  verse!  As 
Lieutenant  Bausback  said  when  he  paid  his  debts 
with  old  Mother  Stenberg;  she  was  exactly  three 
andahalf  times  asoldashewhen  they  were  married." 

"She  has  always  been  pliable — we  may  hope  that 
she  is  amenable  to  a  word  from  her  parents.  I  will 
write  and  represent  to  her  the  prospects." 

"The  prospects!  Don't  meddle  with  that,  Ma! 
Marriages  don't  grow  on  trees.  Or  what  kind  of 
a  match  do  you  think  Thinka  can  make  up  here? 
When  I  am  old  and  retired  on  a  pension,  it  is  a  nice 
lookout  with  all  our  daughters  on  our  hands !  Don't 
let  us  be  mad  with  pride,  Ma, stark  mad !  That  runs 
in  your  blood  and  that  of  all  the  Zittows." 

Ma's  lips  stiffened  a  little  and  her  eyes  looked 
keenly  black;  but  it  was  over  in  a  moment.  "I 
think  that  after  all  we  might  economize  on  pork 
and  butter  here  in  the  house;  it  is  not  half  so  salt 
as  it  is  used  in  many  places  for  servants,  and  then, 
when  the  pigs  —  only  the  hams,  I  mean — can  go 
with  the  load  to  the  city,  then  we  can  very  likely 
find  some  way  to  get  the  money  in  again.  Other- 
wise, I  should  be  entirely  disheartened.  But  if  we 
are  to  send  the  money,  I  think  you  ought  to  send 


88  THE  FAMILY  AT  GILJE 

it  to  the  post-office  at  once,  Jager.  They  ought  not 
to  see  anything  but  that  you  pay  cash  down." 

The  captain  rose  and  puffed.  "Ten  and  five  are 
fifteen — and  three  are  eighteen."  He  counted  the 
money  out  of  a  drawer  in  his  desk.  "  We  shall  never 
see  the  money  again.  Where  are  the  scissors,  the 
scissors,  I  say?" 

He  began  to  cut  the  envelope  for  the  money 
letter  out  of  an  old  gray  wrapper  of  an  official 
letter,  which  he  turned. 

"Your  coat  and  comforter  are  lying  here,  by  the 
stove,"  said  Ma,  when  she  came  in  again. 

"  There.  Put  the  sealing-wax  and  seal  in  the  in- 
side pocket,  so  that  I  shall  not  forget  them ;  other- 
wise I  must  pay  for  sealing," 

It  was  as  if  the  captain's  bad  humor  had  been 
swept  away  when  he  came  back  hastily  from  the 
post-office.  He  had  found  a  letter  from  Inger-Jo- 
hanna,  and  immediately  began  to  peep  into  it ;  but 
it  became  too  dark. 

His  coat  was  off  in  a  trice,  and,  with  his  hat  still 
on,  he  began  eagerly  to  read  by  the  newly  lighted 
candle. 

"Ma!  Ma!  Tell  Ma  to  come  in  at  once — and 
another  candle!" 

He  could  not  see  any  more,  as  the  candle  made 
a  halo  of  obscurity,  and  they  had  to  wait  till  the 
wick  burned  up  again. 


CHAPTER  V  89 

Ma  came  in,  turning  down  her  sleeves  after  the 
baking. 

"Now  you  shall  hear,"  he  said. 

That  such  a  ball  cannot  last  longer!  Aunt  would 
like  to  be  one  of  the  first  to  leave,  so  during  the 
cotillion  I  sit  in  constant  anxiety  lest  she  shall  order 
the  sleigh.  Then  I  am  examined;  but  then,  it  is  now 
no  longer  as  it  was  the  first  two  or  three  times  we 
drove  home,  when  I  chattered  and  blabbed  out 
every  possible  thing,  turned  my  soul  and  all  my 
feelings  inside  out  as  a  pocket  into  aunt's  bosom. 

Yesterday  I  was  at  my  seventh,  and  am  already 
engaged  way  into  the  ninth;  which  still  will  not  be 
my  last,  I  hope,  this  winter  (I  led  five  times).  Yes- 
terday, also,  I  happily  escaped  Lieutenant  Mein, 
the  one  with  Jorgen's  bridle  in  his  mouth,  who  has 
begun  to  want  to  make  sure  of  me  for  the  cotillion, 
as  he  says.  He  sits  and  stands  in  the  companies  at 
home  at  aunt's  (which  is  all  he  does,  as  there  is  not 
a  word  in  his  mouth),  and  only  looks  and  glowers 
at  me. 

Well,  you  should  see  my  dancing  cards !  I  think 
I  have  led  a  third  part  of  all  the  dances  this  winter. 
Aunt  has  made  me  a  present  of  a  sash  buckle  which 
is  beautiful,  and,  with  all  the  dark  yellow  stones,  im- 
proves the  dress  wonderfully.  Aunt  has  taste;  still 
we  never  agree  when  I  dress.  Old  Aunt  Alette  was 


90  THE  FAMILY  AT  GILJE 

up  here  yesterday,  and  I  got  heron  my  side.  So  I  was 
relieved  from  having  earrings  dangling  about  my 
ears;  they  felt  as  if  two  bits  of  a  bridle  rein  were 
hanging  behind  me,  and  then  I  must  be  allowed  to 
have  sleeves  wide  enough  to  move  my  arm  if  I  am 
not  to  feel  like  a  wooden  doll. 

You  must  know  that  I  have  grown  three  inches 
since  I  left  home.  But  never  in  my  life  have  I  really  . 
known  what  it  is  to  exist,  I  believe,  till  this  winter. 
When  I  shut  my  eyes,  it  is  as  if  I  can  see  in  a  dream 
a  whole  series  of  balls,  with  chandeliers  under  which 
music  is  floating,  and  I  am  dancing,  and  am  led 
through  the  throng,  which  seems  to  make  way  for 
me. 

I  understand  how  Aunt  Eleonore  must  have  felt, 
she  who  was  so  beautiflil,  and  whom  they  say  I  re- 
semble so;  she  died  after  a  ball.  Aunt  Alette  says; 
it  must  have  been  of  joy.  There  is  nothing  like 
dancing;  nothing  like  seeing  them  competing  for 
engagements,  kneeling,  as  it  were,  with  their  eyes, 
and  then  becoming  confused  when  I  answer  them 
in  the  way  they  don't  expect. 

And  how  many  times  do  you  really  think  now 
I  have  heard  that  I  have  such  wonderful  black  hair, 
such  wonderful  firm  eyes,  such  a  superb  bearing; 
how  many  times  do  you  think  it  has  been  said  in 
the  most  delicate  manner  and  in  the  crudest?  Aunt 
has  also  begun  to  admire;  I  could  wish  that  the 
whole  winter,  my  whole  life  (so  long  as  I  am  beauti- 


CHAPTER  V  91 

ful,  no  longer),  were  one  single  ball,  like  the  Polish 
count  who  drove  over  sugar. 

And  then  I  have  always  such  a  desire  to  die  after 
every  time,  when  I  am  lying  and  thinking  of  it,  and, 
as  it  were,  hear  the  music  in  my  ears,  until  I  come 
to  think  of  the  next  one. 

For  that  I  am  going  to  have  a  new  dress,  light 
yellow  with  black ;  that  and  white  are  most  becom- 
ing to  me,  aunt  says,  and  then  again,  new  yellow  silk 
shoes,  buttoned  up  to  the  ankles ;  aunt  says  that  my 
high  instep  betrays  race,  and  that  I  feel  I  have; 
truly,  I  don't  mind  speaking  right  out  what  I  think; 
and  it  is  so  amusing  to  see  people  open  their  eyes 
and  wonder  what  sort  of  a  person  I  am. 

I  really  begin  to  suspect  that  several  of  our  gen- 
tlemen have  never  seen  a  living  pig,  or  a  duck,  or 
a  colt  (which  is  the  prettiest  thing  I  know).  They 
become  so  stupid  as  soon  as  I  merely  name  some- 
thing from  the  country;  it  might  be  understood  if 
I  said  it  in  French — un  canard,  un  chevaly  im  cochon^ 
une  vache. 

Student  Grip  contends  that  of  those  who  have 
been  born  in  the  city  not  one  in  ten  has  ever  seen 
a  cow  milked.  He  also  provokes  aunt  by  saying  that 
everything  which  happens  in  French  is  so  much 
finer,  and  thinks  that  we  like  to  read  and  cry  over 
two  lovers  who  jump  into  the  water  from  PontNeuf; 
but  only  let  the  same  thing  happen  here  at  home, 
from  Vaterland's  bridge,  then  it  is  vulgar;  and  in- 


92  THE  FAMILY  AT  GILJE 

deed  I  think  he  is  often  right.  Aunt  has  to  smile. 
And  however  much  she  still  says  he  lacks  in  pol- 
ished manners  and  inborn  culture,  she  is  amused 
at  him.  And  so  they  are  everywhere,  for  he  is  invited 
out  every  single  day  in  the  week. 

He  generally  comes  Sunday  afternoons  and  for 
coffee,  for  then  he  is  sure  that  both  aunt  and  I  are 
bored,  he  says  (yes,  horribly ;  now,  how  can  he  know 
that  ?),  and  that  he  is  not  obliged  to  walk  on  stilts^ 
and  tell  lies  among  the  blue  teacups. 

And  then  he  and  aunt  are  amusing  with  a  ven- 
geance, when  he  speaks  freely,  and  aunt  opposes  him 
and  takes  him  down.  For  he  thinks  for  himself  al- 
ways; that  I  can  see  when  he  is  sitting  with  his  head 
on  one  side  and  gently  stirring  his  spoon  in  his  cup. 
It  makes  one  smile,  for  if  he  means  No,  you  can  see 
it  from  the  top  of  his  head  long  before  he  says  it. 

He  is  not  a  Httle  talked  about  in  the  city  as  one 
of  the  worst  of  the  Student  Society  in  being  zealous 
for  all  their  wild  ideas.  But  aunt  finds  him  piquant, 
and  thinks  that  youth  must  be  suffered  to  sow  its 
wild  oats.  On  the  contrary,  uncle  says  that  this  kind 
is  more  ruinous  for  a  young  man's  future  than  the 
worst  transgressions,  since  it  destroys  his  capacity 
for  discipline. 

What  he  thinks  of  me  I  should  like  to  know. 
Sometimes  he  asks,  impertinently,  "You  are  going 
to  the  ball  this  evening,  I  suppose.  Miss  Jager?" 

But  I  have  it  out  with  him  to  the  best  of  my  abil- 


CHAPTER  V  93 

ity,  ask  aunt  for  advice  about  some  fancy  work,  and 
yawn  so  comfortably,  and  look  out  of  the  window 
just  when  he  is  most  excited.  I  see  very  well  it  pro- 
vokes him,  and  the  last  time  he  asked  if  Miss  Jager 
would  not  abstract  her  thoughts  from  the  next  ball 
for  a  moment. 

Uncle  is  often  cross  at  his  perverseness,  and  con- 
tends that  he  is  a  disagreeable  person ;  but  I  don't 
believe  he  would  readily  let  him  go  from  the  office, 
since  he  is  so  capable. 

Uncle  lives  only  in  his  work;  he  is  so  tremen- 
dously noble.  You  should  hear  how  he  can  go  and 
worry  for  the  least  fault  or  want  of  punctuality  in  his 
office. 

"  I  think  the  devil  is  in  the  fellow — now  he  is  gov- 
ernor," the  captain  declared.  "  He  has  reached  the 
highest  grade  and  can't  be  removed,  and  has  no 
need  to  worry." 

"  Poor  Josiah,"  sighed  Ma,  "  he  was  always  the 
most  sensitive  of  my  brothers;  but  the  best  head." 

"Yes,  the  judge  at  Ryfylke  took  both  force  and 
will  for  his  part." 


A  fortnight  later  they  were  surprised  by  a  letter 
from  the  governor's  v/ife,  with  one  from  Inger-Jo- 
hanna  enclosed. 

The  governor's  lady  must,  in  any  event,  be  al- 


94  THE  FAMILY  AT  GILJE 

lowed  to  keep  her  dear  Inger-Johannaat  least  a  year 
longer;  she  had  become  indispensable  both  to  her 
and  the  governor,  so  that  it  was  even  difficult  for 
them  to  realize  that  she  could  have  another  home. 

She  has  spoiled  her  uncle  by  the  young  life  she  has 
brought  into  the  house.  My  dear  Zittow  with  his 
scrupulous  conscientiousness  is  overburdened  with 
anxieties  and  responsibilities  in  his  great  office,  and 
is  sadly  in  need  of  amusements  and  recreation  after 
so  many  wakeful  nights.  Nay,  so  egotistical  are  we, 
that  I  will  propose  that  we  divide  her  in  the  most 
unjust  manner — that  she  shall  make  a  visit  home 
this  summer,  but  only  to  come  down  to  us  again. 
Anything  else  would  be  a  great  disappointment. 

But  do  not  let  us  bring  a  possibly  unnecessary 
apple  of  discord  upon  the  carpet  too  easily;  it 
might  turn  out  like  the  treaty  between  the  great 
powers  about  the  beautiful  island  in  the  Mediter- 
ranean; during  the  diplomatic  negotiations  it  van- 
ished. And  indeed  I  lack  very  little  of  being  ready 
to  guarantee  that  our  dear  subject  of  dispute  will 
in  a  short  time  herself  rule  over  a  home,  which  will 
be  in  proportion  to  what  she  with  her  nature  and 
beauty  can  lay  claim  to. 

That  I,  as  her  aunt,  should  be  somewhat  blindly 
partial  to  her,  I  can  hardly  believe;  at  least  I  can 
cite  an  experienced,  well-informed  person  of  the 
same  mind  in  our  common  friend,  Captain  Ron- 


CHAPTER  V  95 

now,  who  last  week  came  here  with  the  royal  fam- 
ily from  Stockholm,  and,  in  parenthesis  be  it  said 
—  it  must  be  between  us — is  on  the  point  of  hav- 
ing an  extraordinary  career.  He  was  thoroughly 
enthusiastic  at  seeing  Inger-Johanna  again,  and 
declared  that  she  was  a  perfect  beauty  and  a  born 
lady,  who  was  sure  to  excite  attention  in  circles 
which  were  even  above  the  common,  and  much 
more  which  we  ought  not  to  let  our  dear  child 
hear.  I  can  only  add  that  on  leaving  he  warmly, 
and  with  a  certain  anxiety,  recommended  me  to 
keep  and  still  further  develop  her. 

If  not  just  in  his  first  youth,  he  is  at  least  per- 
haps the^  or  at  any  rate  one  of  the,  most  elegant 
and  most  distinguished  men  in  the  army,  and  it 
would  not  be  difficult  for  him  to  win  even  the  most 
pretentious. 

"No,  I  should  say  that,  by  George.  Well,  Ma," 
said  he,  winking,  "what  do  you  say  now?  Now,  I 
think  it  is  all  going  on  well," 

The  captain  took  a  swinging  march  over  the 
floor,  and  then  fell  upon  I nger- Johanna's  letter. 

Dear  Parents,  —  Now  I  must  tell  you  some- 
thing. Captain  Ronnow  has  been  here.  He  came 
just  as  aunt  had  a  reception.  He  looks  twice  as 
handsome  and  brave  as  he  did  when  he  was  at  our 
house  at  Gilje,  and  I  saw  plainly  that  he  started  a 


96  THE  FAMILY  AT  GILJE 

little  when  he  got  his  eye  on  me,  even  while  he 
stopped  and  paid  his  respects  to  aunt. 

My  heart  beat  rapidly,  you  must  know,  as  soon 
as  I  saw  him  again ;  for  I  was  really  half  afraid  that 
he  would  have  forgotten  me. 

But  he  came  up  and  took  both  my  hands  and 
said  very  warmly,  "  The  bud  which  I  last  saw  at 
Gilje  is  now  blossomed  out." 

I  blushed  a  little,  for  I  knew  very  well  that  it  was 
he  who  from  the  first  brought  it  about  that  I  came 
here. 

But  I  call  that  finished  manners  and  an  easy, 
straightforward  way  of  conducting  himself  Enter- 
taining as  he  was,  he  never  lost  a  particle  of  his 
grand  manly  dignity,  and  there  was  hardly  a  ques- 
tion of  paying  attention  to  any  other  person  than 
to  him  in  particular  the  whole  evening.  I  must 
admit  that  hereafter  I  shall  have  another  standard 
for  a  real  gentleman  whom  I  would  call  a  man, 
and  there  are  certainly  many  who  do  not  come  up 
to  it. 

Aunt  has  also  expatiated  on  his  manner;  I  be- 
lieve she  was  flattered  because  he  was  so  kind  and 
cordial  to  me,  she  has  ever  since  been  in  such  ex- 
cellent humor. 

After  that  he  was  here  daily.  He  had  so  much 
to  tell  us  about  life  in  Stockholm  and  at  the  court, 
and  always  talked  to  me  about  you  at  home,  about 
father,  who  although  he  was  older — 


CHAPTER  V  97 

"Much,   much   older,   yes,"   put   in   the  captain 
eagerly,  "about  four  or  five  years,  at  least." 

—  always  was  his  never-to-be-forgotten  friend. 

You  can  believe  those  were  pleasant  evenings. 
Aunt  understands  such  things.  There  is  a  great  void 
since  he  is  gone.  Aunt  thinks  so,  too. We  have  sat 
talking  about  him,  and  hardly  anything  else  than 
him,  these  two  evenings  since  he  went  away. 

Yesterday  evening  Grip  came  again.  We  have 
not  seen  him  at  all  since  the  first  time  Captain 
Ronnow  was  here.  And  can  any  one  imagine  such 
a  man  ?  He  seems  to  see  nothing  in  him.  He  sat 
and  contradicted,  and  was  so  cross  and  disagree- 
able the  whole  evening  that  aunt  was  quite  tired  of 
him.  He  argued  about  living  externally,  hollow 
drum,  and  some  such  things,  as  if  it  were  not  just 
the  genuine  manliness  and  naturalness  that  one 
must  value  so  much  in  Captain  Ronnow. 

Oh,  I  lay  half  the  night  angry.  He  sat  playing 
with  his  teacup  and  talked  about  people  who  could 
go  through  the  world  with  a  silk  ribbon  of  phrases 
and  compliments:  that  one  could  flatter  to  death 
a  sound  understanding,  so  that  at  last  there  was 
left  only  a  plucked — I  plainly  heard  him  mum- 
ble— wild  goose.  Dreadful  insolence!  I  am  sure  he 
meant  me. 

When  he  had  gone  aunt  also  said  that  hereafter 
she  should  refuse  to  receive  him,  when  there  was 


98  THE  FAMILY  AT  GILJE 

no  other  company  present;  she  was  tired  of  his 
performances  en  tete-a-tete;  that  sort  of  men  must 
have  a  certain  restraint  put  upon  them.  He  will 
never  have  any  kind  of  a  career,  she  thought,  he 
carries  his  own  notions  too  high. 

However,  it  will  be  very  tiresome  if  he  stays 
away ;  for  with  all  his  peculiarities  he  is  very  often 
a  good  war  comrade  for  me  against  aunt. 


Chapter  VI 

THE  captain  had  kept  the  cover  of  his  old 
large  meerschaum  pipe  polished  with  chalk 
for  three  days,  without  being  willing  to  take  it 
down  from  the  shelf;  he  had  trimmed  and  put  in 
new  mouthpieces,  and  held  a  feast  of  purification 
on  the  remainder,  as  well  as  on  all  the  contents  of 
the  tobacco  table,  the  ash  receiver,  the  tobacco 
stems,  and  lava-like  scrapings  from  the  pipe.  He 
had  let  the  sexton  do  his  best  at  tuning  the  clavi- 
chord, and  put  two  seats,  painted  white,  on  the 
stoop.  The  constantly  neglected  lattice-work  around 
the  garden  now  glistened  here  and  there  with  fresh 
white  palings,  like  single  new  teeth  which  are  stuck 
between  a  whole  row  of  old  gray  ones.  The  walks 
in  the  garden  must  be  swept  and  garnished,  the 
yard  was  cleaned  up,  and,  finally,  the  cover  put  on 
the  well,  which  was  to  have  been  done  all  the 
years  when  the  children  were  small. 

It  was  the  captain  who,  in  an  almost  vociferous 
good  humor,  was  zealously  on  the  move  every- 
where. 

Sometimes  he  took  a  kind  of  rest  and  stood 
puffing  on  the  steps  or  in  the  window  of  the  large 
room  which  looked  down  toward  the  country 
highway;  or  in  the  shades  of  the  evening  he  took 
a  little  turn  down  to  the  gate  and  sat  there  on  the 
stone   fence  with   his  pipe.  If  any   one  passed  by 


loo  THE  FAMILY  AT  GILJE 

going  south,  he  would  say,  "Are  you  going  to 
the  store  to  buy  a  plug  of  tobacco,  Lars?  If  you 
meet  a  fine  young  lady  in  a  cariole,  greet  her  from 
the  captain  at  Gilje;  it  is  my  daughter  who  is  com- 
ing from  the  city." 

If  the  person  was  some  poor  old  crone  of  the 
other  sex,  to  her  astonishment  a  copper  coin  fell 
down  on  the  road  before  her:  "There,  Kari;  there, 
Siri:  you  may  want  something  to  order  a  crutch 
carriage  with." 

A  surprise  which  was  so  much  the  greater  as  the 
captain  at  other  times  cherished  a  genuine  liking 
for  flaying  old  beggar  women.  The  whole  stock  of 
tempestuous  oaths  and  of  abusive  words  coined  in 
the  inspiration  of  the  moment,  which  was  in  his 
blood  from  the  drill-ground  and  military  life,  must 
now  and  then  have  an  outbreak.  The  old  women 
who  went  on  crutches  were  long  accustomed  to  this 
treatment,  and  knew  what  to  expect  when  they  were 
going  away  from  the  house,  after  having  first  got  a 
good  load  in  their  bags  in  the  kitchen.  It  was  like 
a  tattoo  about  their  ears,  accompanied  by  Pasop's 
wild  barking. 

But  in  these  days,  while  he  was  going  about  in 
joyfiil  expectation  and  awaiting  his  daughter's  re- 
turn home,  he  was  what  made  him  a  popular  man 
both  in  the  district  and  among  his  men,  straightfor- 
ward and  sportive,  something  of  the  old  gay  Peter 
Jager.  ' 


CHAPTER  VI  loi 

The  captain  had  just  been  in  again  in  the  after- 
noon and  tried  the  concert  pitch  on  the  clavichord, 
which  was  constantly  lowering,  and  compared  his 
deep  bass  with  its  almost  soundless  rumbling  G, 
when  Jorgen  thought  he  saw,  through  the  win- 
dow, a  movable  spot  on  one  of  the  light  bits  of  the 
highway,  which  was  visible  even  on  the  other  side 
of  the  lake. 

The  captain  caught  up  his  field-glasses,  rushed 
out  on  the  steps  and  in  again,  called  to  Ma — and 
afterwards  patiently  took  his  post  at  the  open  win- 
dow, while  he  called  Ma  in  again  every  time  they 
came  into  the  turns. 

Down  there  it  did  not  go  so  quickly.  Svarten 
stopped  of  his  own  accord  at  every  man  he  met  on 
the  way;  and  then  Great-Ola  must  explain. 

A  young  lady  with  a  duster  tightly  fastened 
about  her  waist,  parasol  and  gloves,  and  such  a 
fine  brass-bound  English  trunk  on  the  back  of  the 
cariole,  was  in  itself  no  common  thing.  But  that  it 
was  the  daughter  of  the  captain  at  Gilje  who  was 
coming  home  raised  the  affair  up  to  the  sensa- 
tional, and  the  news  was  therefore  well  spread  over 
the  region  when,  toward  evening,  the  cariole  had 
got  as  far  as  the  door  at  home. 

There  stood  mother  and  father  and  Jorgen  and 
Thea  and  the  sub-officer,  Tronberg,  with  his  small 
bag  yonder  at  the  corner  of  the  house,  and  the  farm- 
hands and  girls  inside  the  passageway — and  Great- 


I02  THE  FAMILY  AT  GILJE 

Ola  was  cheated  out  of  lifting  the  young  lady  down 
on  the  steps,  for  she  herself  jumped  from  the  cariole 
step  straight  into  the  arms  of  her  father,  and  then 
kissed  her  mother  and  hugged  Thea  and  pulled 
Jorgen  by  the  hair  a  little  forced  dance  around  on 
the  stairs,  so  that  he  should  feel  the  first  impres- 
sion of  her  return  home. 

Yes,  it  was  the  parasol  she  had  lost  on  the  steps 
and  which  a  bare-footed  girl  came  up  with;  Ma  had 
a  careful  eye  upon  it — the  costly,  delicate,  fringed 
parasol  with  long  ivory  handle  had  been  lying  there 
between  the  steps  and  the  cariole  wheel. 

The  captain  took  off  her  duster  himself — The 
hair,  the  dress,  the  gloves ;  that  was  the  way  she 
looked,  a  fine  grown  lady  from  head  to  foot. 

And  so  they  had  the  Gilje  sun  in  the  room! 

"  I  have  been  sitting  and  longing  all  day  for  the 
smell  of  the  petum  and  to  see  a  little  cloud  of  smoke 
about  your  head,  father — I  think  you  are  a  little 
stouter — and  then  your  dress-coat — I  always 
thought  of  you  in  the  old  shiny  one.  And  mother 
— and  mother!"  She  rushed  out  after  her  into  the 
pantry,  where  she  stayed  a  long  time. 

Then  she  came  out  more  quietly. 

A  hot  fire  was  blazing  in  the  kitchen.  There  stood 
Marit,  a  short,  red-cheeked  mountain  girl,  with 
white  teeth  and  small  hands,  stirring  the  porridge  so 
that  the  sweat  dropped  from  her  face ;  she  knew  very 
well  that  Great-Ola  would  have  it  so  that  fifteen 


CHAPTER  VI  103 

men  could  dance  on  the  surface,  and  now  she  got  the 
help  of  the  young  lady.  After  that  Inger-Johanna 
must  over  and  spin  on  Torbjorg's  spinning-wheel. 

The  captain  only  went  with  her  and  looked  on 
with  half  moistened  eyes,  and  when  they  came  in 
again  Inger-Johanna  got  the  bottle  from  the  side- 
board, and  gave  each  of  them  out  there  a  dram  in 
honor  of  her  return. 

The  supper-table  was  waiting  in  the  sitting-room 
on  a  freshly  laid  cloth  —  red  mountain  trout  and  her 
favorite  dish,  strawberries  and  cream. 

They  must  not  think  of  waking  her,  so  tired  as  she 
was  last  night,  father  had  said. 

And  therefore  Thea  had  sat  outside  of  the 
threshold  from  half-past  six,  waiting  to  hear  any 
noise,  so  that  she  could  rush  in  with  the  tray  and 
little  cakes,  for  Inger-Johanna  was  to  have  her 
coffee  in  bed. 

Jorgen  kept  her  company,  taken  up  with  study- 
ing the  singular  lock  on  her  trunk,  and  then  with 
scanning  the  light,  delicate  patent  leather  shoes.  He 
rubbed  them  on  his  forehead  and  his  nose,  after 
having  moistened  them  with  his  breath. 

Now  she  was  waking  up  in  there,  and  open  flew 
the  door  for  Jorgen,  Thea,  and  Pasop,  and  after- 
wards Torbjorg  with  the  cup  of  coffee. 

Yes,  she  was  at  home  now. 

The  fragrance  of  the  hay  came  in  through  the 


I04  THE  FAMILY  AT  GILJE 

open  window,  and  she  heard  them  driving  the  rum- 
bling loads  into  the  barn. 

And  when  she  saw,  from  the  window,  the  long 
narrow  lake  in  the  valley  down  below,  and  all  the 
mountain  peaks  which  lifted  themselves  so  precipi- 
tously up  towards  the  heavens  over  the  light  fog  on 
the  other  side,  she  understood  some  of  her  mother's 
feeling  that  here  it  was  cramped,  and  that  it  was 
two  hundred  long  miles  to  the  city.  But  then  it  was 
so  fragrant  and  beautiful — and  then,  she  was  really 
home  at  Gilje. 

She  must  go  out  and  lie  in  the  hay,  and  let  Jor- 
gen  hold  the  buck  that  was  inclined  to  butt,  so  she 
could  get  past,  and  then  look  at  his  workshop  and 
the  secret  hunting  gun  he  was  making  out  of  the 
barrel  and  lock  of  an  old  army  gun. 

It  was  a  special  confidence  to  his  grown-up  sister, 
for  powder  and  gun  were  most  strictly  forbidden 
him,  which  did  not  prevent  his  having  his  arsenals 
of  his  father's  coarse-grained  cartridge  powder  hid- 
den in  various  places  in  the  hills. 

And  then  she  must  be  with  Thea  and  find  out 
all  about  the  garden,  and  with  her  father  on  his 
walks  here  and  there;  they  went  up  by  the  cow- 
path,  with  its  waving  ferns,  white  birch  stems,  and 
green  leaves,  over  the  whole  of  the  sloping  ridge 
of  Gilje. 

It  was  like  a  happy,  almost  giddy,  intoxication 
of  home-coming  for  three  or  four  days. 


CHAPTER  VI  105 

It  came  to  be  more  like  every-day  life,  when  Ma 
began  to  talk  about  this  and  that  of  the  household 
affairs  and  to  make  Inger-Johanna  take  part  in  her 
different  cares  and  troubles. 

What  should  be  done  with  Jorgen?  They  must 
think  of  having  him  go  to  the  city  soon.  Ma  had 
thought  a  good  deal  about  writing  to  Aunt  Alette 
and  consulting  with  her.  Father  must  not  be  fright- 
ened about  spending  too  much  money.  If  Aunt 
Alette  should  conclude  to  take  him  to  board,  then 
it  would  n't  involve  the  terrible  immediate  outlay 
of  money.  They  could  send  many  kinds  of  provi- 
sions there,  butter  and  cht^st^  fladbrod,  dried  meat, 
and  bacon  as  often  as  there  was  an  opportunity. 

She  must  talk  with  father  about  this  sometime 
later  in  the  winter,  when  she  had  heard  what  Aunt 
Alette  thought. 

And  with  Thinka  they  had  gone  through  a  great 
deal.  Ma  had  had  all  she  could  do  to  keep  father 
out  of  it — you  know  how  little  he  can  bear  annoy- 
ances— and  she  had  found  it  a  matter  almost  of  life 
and  death  on  Wednesdays  to  intercept  Jorgen,  when 
he  brought  the  mail,  to  get  hold  of  Thinka's  let- 
ters. This  spring  Ma  had  written  time  after  time, 
and  represented  to  her  what  kind  of  a  future  she 
was  preparing  for  herself,  if  she,  in  weakness  and 
folly,  gave  way  to  her  rash  feelings  for  this  clerk, 
Aas. 

But  in  the  beginning,  you  see,  there  came  some 


io6  THE  FAMILY  AT  GILJE 

letters  back,  which  were  very  melancholy.  One  could 
live  even  in  poorer  circumstances,  she  wrote,— -it 
seems  that  there  was  a  rather  doubtful  prospect  of 
his  getting  a  situation  as  a  country  bailiff  that  she 
had  set  her  hopes  on. 

Ma  had  placed  it  seriously  before  her  how  such 
a  thing  as  that  might  end.  Suppose  he  was  sick  or 
died,  where  would  she  and  perhaps  a  whole  flock 
of  children  take  refiige.'' 

"It  depends  on  overcoming  the  first  emotion  of 
the  fancy.  Now  she  is  coming  home  in  the  autumn, 
and  it  could  be  wished  that  she  had  gotten  over  her 
feelings.  My  brother  Birger  is  so  headstrong;  but 
maybe  it  was  for  the  best  that,  as  my  sister-in-law 
writes,  as  soon  as  he  got  a  hint  of  the  state  of  af- 
fairs, he  gave  Aas  his  dismissal  and  sent  him  packing 
that  very  day.  The  last  two  or  three  letters  show 
that  Thinka  is  quieter." 

"Thinka  is  horribly  meek,"  exclaimed  Inger- 
Johanna  with  flashing  eyes.  "I  believe  they  could 
pickle  her  and  put  her  down  and  tie  up  the  jar;  she 
would  not  grumble.  If  Uncle  Birger  had  done  so 
to  me,  I  would  not  have  stayed  there  a  day  longer." 

"Inger-Johanna!  Inger-Johanna! "  Ma  shook 
her  head.  "  You  have  a  dangerous,  spoiled  temper. 
It  is  only  the  very,  very  smallest  number  of  us 
women  who  are  able  to  do  what  they  would  like  to." 

The  captain  did  not  disdain  the  slightest  occasion 


CHAPTER  VI  107 

to  bring  forward  his  daughter  just  come  home  from 
the  city. 

He  had  turned  the  time  to  account,  for  in  the 
beginning  of  the  next  week  he  would  be  obHged  to 
go  on  various  surveys  up  on  the  common  land  and 
then  to  the  drills. 

They  had  made  a  trip  down  to  the  central  part 
of  the  district,  to  Pastor  Horn's,  and  on  the  way 
stopped  and  called  on  Sexton  Semmelinge  and  Bar- 
don  Kleven,  the  bailiff.  They  had  been  to  Dr.  Bau- 
man,  the  doctor  of  the  district;  and  now  on  Sunday 
they  were  invited  to  Sheriff  Giilcke's  —  a  journey 
of  thirty-five  miles  down  the  valley. 

It  was  an  old  house  of  a  caliche^  repaired  a  hun- 
dred times,  which  was  drawn  out  of  its  hiding-place, 
and  within  whose  chained  together  arms  Svarten 
and  the  dun  horse — the  blind  bay  had  long  since 
been  sent  away — were  to  continue  their  three- 
months-long  attempt  to  agree  in  the  stall. 

If  the  beasts  had  any  conception,  it  must  most 
likely  have  been  that  it  was  an  enormously  heavy 
plough  they  were  drawing,  in  a  lather,  up  and  down 
hill,  with  continual  stoppings  to  get  breath  and  let 
those  who  were  sitting  in  it  get  in  and  out. 

If  there  was  anything  the  captain  adhered  to,  it 
was  military  punctuality,  and  at  half-past  four  in 
the  morning  the  whole  family  in  full  dress,  the  cap- 
tain and  Jorgen  with  their  pantaloons  turned  up, 
the  ladies  with  their  dresses  tucked  up,  were  wan- 


io8  THE  FAMILY  AT  GILJE 

dering  on  foot  down  the  Gilje  hills — they  were  some 
of  the  worst  on  the  whole  road — while  Great-Ola 
drove  the  empty  carriage  down  to  the  highway. 

The  dun  horse  was  better  fitted  for  pulling  than 
holding  back,  so  that  it  was  Svarten  that  must  be 
depended  on  in  the  hills,  and  Great-Ola,  the  cap- 
tain, and  Jorgen  must  help. 

It  was  an  exceedingly  warm  day,  and  the  car- 
riage rolled  on  in  an  incessant  dense,  stifling  dust  of 
the  road  about  the  feet  of  the  horses  and  the  wheels. 
But  then  it  was  mainly  down  hill,  and  they  rested 
and  got  breath  every  mile. 

At  half-past  one  they  had  only  to  cross  the  ferry 
and  a  short  distance  on  the  other  side  again  up  to 
the  sheriffs  farm. 

On  the  ferry  a  little  toilet  was  temporarily  made, 
and  the  captain  took  his  new  uniform  coat  out  of 
the  carriage  box  and  put  it  on.  Except  that  Jorgen 
had  greased  his  pantaloons  from  the  wheels,  not  a 
single  accident  had  happened  on  the  whole  trip. 

As  soon  as  they  came  up  on  the  hill,  they  saw 
the  judge's  carriage  roll  up  before  them  through  the 
gate,  and  in  the  yard  they  recognized  the  doctor's 
cariole  and  the  lawyer's  gig.  There  stood  the  sheriff 
himself,  helping  the  judge's  wife  out  of  the  carriage; 
his  chief  clerk  and  his  daughters  were  on  the  steps. 

So  far  as  the  ladies  were  concerned,  there  must, 
of  course,  be  a  final  toilet  and  a  change  of  clothes 
before  they  found  themselves  presentable.  One  of 


CHAPTER  VI  109 

the  two  daughters  of  the  lawyer  was  in  a  red  and  the 
other  in  a  clear  white  dress,  and  of  the  three  daugh- 
ters of  the  judge,  two  were  in  white  and  one  in 
blue. 

That  a  captain's  daughter,  with  his  small  salary, 
came  in  brown  silk  with  patent  leather  shoes,  could 
only  be  explained  by  the  special  circumstances,  sug- 
gested Mrs.  Scharfenberg  in  the  ear  of  old  Miss 
Horn  of  the  parsonage;  it  was,  in  all  probability, 
one  of  the  governor's  lady's,  which  had  been  made 
over  down  in  the  city. 

The  fact  was  that  young  Horn  who,  it  was  ex- 
pected, would  be  chaplain  to  his  father,  the  minis- 
ter, treated  Inger-Johanna  in  a  much  more  com- 
plimentary manner  than  he  showed  toward  Mrs. 
Scharfenberg's  daughter.  Bine,  to  whom  he  was  as 
good  as  engaged;  and  the  chief  clerk  did  not  seem 
to  be  blind  to  her.  They  both  ran  to  get  a  chair  for 
her. 

The  sofa  was  assigned  to  the  judge's  wife  and  to 
Ma,  as  a  matter  of  course.  Mrs.  Scharfenberg  did 
not  think  this  quite  right  either,  since  her  husband 
had  been  nominated  second  for  the  judgeship  of 
Sogn ;  and  that  the  sheriff  had  to-day  also  invited 
the  rich  Mrs.  Silje  was, her  husband  said,  only  a  bid 
for  popularity:  she  was  still  always  what  she  was — 
widow  of  the  country  storekeeper,  Silje. 

It  was  a  long  time  to  sit  and  exchange  compli- 
ments, before  the  mainstay  of  the  dinner,  the  sher- 


no  THE  FAMILY  AT  GILJE 

ifFs  roast,  was  sufficiently  and  thoroughly  done,  and 
he  got  a  nod  from  his  wife  to  ask  the  company  out 
to  the  table  in  the  large  room. 

The  only  one  who  laughed  and  talked  before 
the  ice  was  fairly  broken  was  Inger-Johanna,  who 
chatted  with  the  judge  and  then  with  Horn  and  the 
army  doctor. 

Ma  pursed  her  lips  a  little  uneasily,  as  she  sat  on 
the  sofa  and  pretended  to  be  absorbed  in  conversa- 
tion with  Mrs.  Brinkman;  she  knew  what  they  all 
would  say  about  her  afterwards. 

It  had  been  a  rather  warm  dinner.  Through  the 
abundant  provision  of  the  sheriff,  the  fatigue  and 
hunger  after  the  journey  had  given  place  to  an  ex- 
tremely lively  mood  spiced  with  speeches  and  songs. 

They  had  sat  a  long  time  at  the  table  before  the 
scraping  of  the  judge's  chair  finally  gave  the  signal 
for  the  breaking  up. 

The  sheriff  now  stood  stout  and  beaming  during 
the  thanks  for  the  meal,  and  demanded  and  received 
his  tribute  as  host — a  kiss  from  each  one  of  the 
young  ladies. 

The  masculine  part  of  the  company  distributed 
themselves  with  their  coffee-cups  out  in  the  cool 
hall  and  on  the  stairs,  or  went  with  their  tobacco 
pipes  into  the  yard,  while  the  ladies  sat  around  the 
coffee-table  in  the  parlor. 

The  judge  talked  somewhat  loudly  with  the  sher- 


CHAPTER  VI  III 

iff,  and  the  captain,  red  and  hot,  stood  a  little  way 
out  in  the  yard,  cooling  himself. 

The  doctor  came  up  and  clapped  him  on  the 
shoulder.  "The  sheriff  really  took  the  spigot  out  of 
the  bung  to-day:  we  had  excellent  drink." 

"Oh,  if  one  only  had  a  pipe  now,  and  could  go 
and  loaf." 

"You  have  got  one  in  your  hand,  man." 

"Really?  But  filled,  you  see." 

"You  just  went  in  and  filled  it." 

"  I  ^  No,  really ;  but  a  light,  you  see,  a  light." 

"  I  say,  Jager,  Scharfenberg  is  already  up  taking 
a  nap." 

"Yes,  yes;  but  the  bay,  you  cheated  me  shame- 
fully in  that." 

"Oh,  nonsense,  Peter;  your  cribber  ate  himself 
half  out  of  my  stall  —  That  Madeira  was  strong." 

"  Rist — my  daughter,  Inger-Johanna — " 

"Yes,  you  see,  Peter,  I  forgive  you  that  you  are 
a  little  cracked  about  her;  she  may  make  stronger 
heads  than  yours  whirl  round." 

"She  is  beautiful — beautiful."  His  voice  was  as- 
suming an  expression  of  serious  pathos. 

The  two  military  men,  at  a  sedate,  thoughtful 
pace,  walked  back  to  one  of  the  sleeping-rooms  in 
the  second  story. 

In  the  hall,  tall  Buchholtz,  the  judge's  chief 
clerk,  was  standing,  stiff  and  silent,  against  the  wall, 
with  his  coffee-cup  in  his  hand;  he  was  pondering 


112  THE  FAMILY  AT  GILJE 

whether  anyone  would  notice  anything  wrong  about 
him.  He  had  been  in  the  coffee  room  with  the 
ladies  and  tried  to  open  a  conversation  with  Miss 
Jager. 

"Have  you  been  here  long,  Miss  Jager?" 

"Three  weeks." 

"Howlo-ong  do  you  intend  to  stay  here?" 

"Till  the  end  of  August." 

"Don't  you  miss  the  city  u-p  here?" 

"No,  not  at  all." 

She  turned  from  him,  and  began  to  talk  with  her 
mother.  The  same  questions  had  now  been  asked 
her  by  all  the  gentlemen. 

The  irreproachable  Candidate  Horn  stood  by 
the  door  enjoying  his  coffee  and  the  defeat  of  the 
chief  clerk.  He  was  lying  in  wait  for  an  opportunity 
to  have  a  chat  with  I  nger- Johanna,  but  found  an  in- 
surmountable obstacle  in  the  judge's  well-read  wife, 
who  began  to  talk  with  her  about  French  litera- 
ture, a  region  in  which  he  felt  he  could  not  assert 
himself. 

At  the  request  of  the  sheriff,  a  general  exit  took 
place  later.  The  ladies  must  go  out  on  the  porch 
and  see  the  young  people  playing  "the  widower 
seeking  a  mate." 

Mrs.  Silje  sat  there,  broad  and  good-natured  after 
all  the  good  eating,  and  enjoyed  it. 

"No,  but  he  did  not  catch  her  this  time,  no. 
Make  the  strap  around  your  waist  tighter,  next 


I 


CHAPTER  VI  113 

time,  sir!"  She  smiled  when  the  chief  clerk's  at- 
tempt to  catch  Inger-Johanna  failed;  "she  is  such 
a  fine  young  lady  to  try  for." 

Mrs.  Scharfenberg  found  that  there  was  a  draught 
on  the  stairs,  and  as  she  moved  into  the  hall,  where 
the  sheriff's  wife,  always  an  invalid,  sat  wrapped  up 
in  her  shawl,  she  could  not  but  say  to  her  and  the 
judge's  wife  that  the  young  lady's  reckless  manner 
of  running — so  that  you  could  even  see  the  stock- 
ings above  her  shoes — smacked  rather  much  of  be- 
ing free.  But  she  was  sure  Mrs.  Silje  did  notfind  it  in 
the  least  unbecoming.  She  remarked  sharply,  "She 
had  herself  gone  so  many  times  on  the  sunny  hill- 
side with  the  other  girls,  raking  hay  in  her  smock 
before  she  was  married  to  the  trader." 

Ma,  indeed,  gave  Inger-Johanna  an  anxious  hint 
as  soon  as  she  could  reach  her. 

"You  must  not  run  so  violently,  child.  It  does 
not  look  well — you  must  let  yourself  be  caught." 

"By  that  chief  clerk — never!" 

Ma  sighed. 

They  kept  on  with  the  game  till  tea  time,  when 
those  who  had  been  missing  after  dinner  again 
showed  themselves  in  a  rested  condition,  ready  to 
begin  a  game  of  Boston  for  the  evening. 

"But  Jorgen — where  is  Jorgen?" 

In  obedience  to  the  call,  somewhat  pale  and  in 
a  cold  perspiration,  but  with  a  bold  front,  he  came 
down  from  the  office  building,  where  he  had  been 


114  THE  FAMILY  AT  GILJE 

sitting,  smoking  tobacco  on  the  sly  with  the  sheriff's 
clerk  and  "the  execution  horse,"  whose  racy  des- 
ignation was  due  to  his  unpopular  portion  of  the 
sheriff's  functions. 

The  game  of  Boston  was  continued  after  supper 
with  violent  defeats  and  quite  wonderful  exposed 
hands,  between  the  judge,  the  captain,  the  sheriff, 
and  the  attorney. 

In  the  other  room  Ma  sat  uneasy,  wondering 
when  father  would  think  of  breaking  up — they  had 
a  very  long  journey  home,  and  it  was  already  ten 
o'clock.  The  sheriff  had  urged  them  in  vain  to 
remain  all  night;  but  it  didn't  answer  this  time; 
Jager  had  definite  reasons  why  they  must  be  home 
again  to-morrow. 

She  sat  in  silence,  resting  her  hopes  on  the  sharp 
little  Mrs.  Scharfenberg,  trusting  she  would  soon 
dare  to  show  herself  in  the  door  of  the  card  room. 

But  it  dragged  on;  the  other  ladies  were  cer- 
tainly resting  their  hope  on  her. 

She  nodded  to  Inger-Johanna.  "Can't  you  go 
in,"  she  whispered,  "and  remind  your  father  a  little 
of  the  time — but  only  as  if  of  your  own  accord?" 

Finally  at  eleven  o'clock  they  were  sitting  in  the 
carriage — after  the  sheriff  had  again  asserted,  on  the 
steps,  his  privilege  of  an  old  man  towards  the  young 
ladies.  He  was  a  real  master  in  meeting  all  the  play- 
ful ways  they  had  of  escaping  in  order  to  be  saved 
from  the  smacking  good-by. 


CHAPTER  VI  115 

The  chief  clerk  and  Candidate  Horn  went  with 
the  carriage  to  the  gate. 

"It  was  neither  for  your  sake  nor  mine.  Ma," 
said  the  captain. 

He  was  driving,  but  turned  incessantly  in  order 
to  hear  the  talk  in  the  carriage,  and  throw  in  an 
observation  with  it.  Jorgen  and  Thea,  who  had 
kept  modestly  quiet  the  whole  day,  but  had  made 
many  observations,  nevertheless,  were  now  on  a 
high  horse;  Thea  especially  plumed  herself  as  the 
only  soul  who  had  succeeded  in  escaping  the 
sheriff. 

And  now  they  were  on  the  way  home  in  the 
light,  quiet  July  night,  up  hill  and  up  hill — in 
places  down,  foot  by  foot,  step  by  step,  except 
where  they  dared  to  let  the  carriage  go  faster  as 
they  came  to  the  bottom  of  a  hill. 

A  good  level  mile  or  two,  where  they  could  all 
sit  in  the  carriage,  was  passed  over  at  a  gentle  jog- 
trot. It  was  sultry  with  a  slightly  moist  fragrance 
from  the  hay-cocks,  and  a  slight  impression  of  twi- 
light over  the  land — Great-Ola  yawned,  the  cap- 
tain yawned,  the  horses  yawned,  Jorgen  nodded, 
Thea  slept,  wrapped  up  under  Ma's  shawl.  Now 
and  then  they  were  roused  by  the  rushing  of  a 
mountain  brook,  as  it  flowed  foaming  under  a 
bridge  in  the  road. 

Inger-Johanna  sat  dreaming,  and  at  last  saw  a 
yellowish  brown  toad  before  her,  with  small, curious 


ii6  THE  FAMILY  AT  GILJE 

eyes  and  a  great  mouth — and  then  it  rose  up,  so 
puffed  up  and  ungainly,  and  hopped  down  towards 
her. 

The  horses  stopped. 

"Oh,  I  believe  I  was  dreaming  about  the  sher- 
iff!"  said  I nger- Johanna,  as  she  woke  up  shivering. 

"We  must  get  out  here,"  came  sleepily  from  the 
captain,  "on  the  Rognerud  hills;  Ma  can  stay  in 
with  Thea." 

The  day  was  beginning  to  dawn.  They  saw  the 
sun  bathe  the  mountain  tops  in  gold  and  the  light 
creep  down  the  slopes.  The  sun  lay  as  it  were  still, 
and  peeped  at  them  first,  till  it  at  once  bounded 
over  the  crest  in  the  east  like  a  golden  ball,  and 
colored  red  the  wooded  mountain  sides  and  hills 
on  the  west  side,  clear  down  to  the  greensward 
shining  with  dew. 

Still  they  toiled,  foot  by  foot,  up  the  hills. 

On  the  Gilje  lands  the  people  had  already  been 
a  long  time  at  work  spreading  out  the  hay,  when 
they  saw  them  coming. 

"It  is  good  to  be  home  again,"  declared  Ma.  "I 
wonder  if  Marit  has  remembered  to  hang  the  trout 
in  the  smoke." 

Marit  came  rushing  out  of  the  door  of  the 
porch:  "There  was  a  fine  city  traveller  came  this 
way  last  night!  He  who  was  here  two  years  ago,  and 
had  his  shoes  mended.  I  did  not  know  anything 
better  than  to  let  him  sleep  in  the  blue  chamber." 


CHAPTER  VI  117 

"Oh,  ho!  Student  Grip!  I  suppose  he  is  on  his 
way  towards  home." 

Ma  looked  at  once  at  Inger-Johanna;  she  fell 
into  a  reverie.  She  stepped  hurriedly  out  of  the 
carriage. 

"  Jager  is  going  surveying  to-morrow  a  long  dis- 
tance into  the  mountains, — clear  over  to  the  Gron- 
nelid  saeters"  Ma  said  to  him,  when  he  came  out 
of  his  room  in  the  morning,  "and  there  is  so  much 
that  must  be  done." 

"So — oh — and  to-morrow  early."  The  student 
hesitated.  "My  plan  is  to  go  home  over  the  moun- 
tain, as  I  did  last  time — to  get  a  little  really  fresh 
air,  away  from  the  stuffy  town  air  and  the  law- 
books." 

"But  then  you  could  go  with  Jager?  It  will  be 
thirty-five  to  forty  miles  you  could  go  together 
up  in  the  mountains — and  for  Jager,  it  would  be  a 
real  pleasure  to  have  company.  You  won't  have  any 
objection,  I  suppose,  to  my  putting  up  something 
for  you  to  eat  by  the  way?" 

"Thanks — I  thank  you  very  much  for  all  your 
kindness." 

"She  will  not  have  me,  that  is  plain,"  he  mut- 
tered, while  he  wandered  about  the  yard  during  the 
forenoon;  they  were  all  asleep  except  the  mistress. 
But  he  did  not  come  here  to  escort  the  captain. 

In  the  afternoon,  when  it  began  to  grow  a  little 
cool,    the    captain,    Inger-Johanna,   Jorgen,    and 


ii8  THE  FAMILY  AT  GILJE 

Student  Grip  took  the  lonely  road  to^  the  mill. 
Great-Ola  and  Aslak,  the  crofter,  went  with  them 
—  something  was  to  be  done  to  the  mill-wheel, 
now  that  the  stream  was  almost  dry. 

They  stood  there  studying  eagerly  how  the 
wheel  could  best  be  raised  off  the  axis. 

"That  Jorgen,  that  Jorgen,  he  has  got  the  hang 
of  the  wheel!"  exclaimed  the  captain.  "You  can 
get  Tore,  the  joiner,  to  help,  Ola,  as  soon  as  you 
come  back  with  the  horses  from  the  mountain — 
and  let  Jorgen  show  you  how:  he  understands  it, 
he  does — if  it  is  only  not  a  book,  he  is  clever 
enough." 

"You  will  have  to  take  hold  of  your  forelock  and 
try  and  cram,  Jorgen;  do  as  you  did  with  the  rye- 
pudding — the  sooner  it  is  eaten,  the  sooner  it  is 
over,"  said  Grip,  to  comfort  him. 

"Look  here,  I  came  near  forgetting  the  fish- 
lines  for  to-morrow.  You  will  have  to  go  down  to 
the  store  this  evening,  Jorgen.  We  catch  the  trout 
ourselves  up  there,  as  you  will  see,"  said  the  cap- 
tain, turning  to  Grip. 

"Oh  —  oh — yes,"  he  puffed,  while  they  were 
sauntering  toward  home  together.  "  I  certainly  need 
to  go  to  the  mountains  now,  I  always  come  down 
again  three  or  four  pounds  lighter." 

"  I  have  wandered  about  that  part  of  the  country 
from  the  time  I  was  a  schoolboy,"  remarked  Grip. 
"We  must  put  Lake  Bygdin  into  the  geography 


CHAPTER  VI  119 

— that  it  was  discovered  only  a  few  years  ago,  in 
the  middle  of  a  broad  mountain  plateau,  which  only 
some  reindeer  hunter  or  other  knew  anything 
about." 

"Not  laid  down  on  any  map,  no — as  blank  as  in 
the  interior  of  Africa,  marked  out  as  unexplored," 
the  captain  pointed  out.  "  But  then  there  is  traffic 
going  on  between  the  districts,  both  of  people  and 
cattle,  and  the  mountains  have  their  names  from 
ancient  times  down  among  the  common  people." 

"  True,the  natives  also  knew  the  interior  of  Africa, 
but  on  that  account  it  is  not  called  discovered  by 
the  civilized  world,"  said  Grip,  smiling.  "I  always 
wondered  what  could  be  found  in  such  a  mysterious 
region  in  the  middle  of  the  country.  There  might 
be  a  great  deal  there:  valleys  entirely  deserted  from 
ancient  times — old,  sunken  timber  halls,  and  then 
wild  reindeer  rushing  here  and  there  over  the 
wastes." 

"Yes,  shooting,"  agreed  the  captain;  "we  get 
many  a  tender  reindeer  steak  from  over  there." 

"It  was  that  which  attracted  me,  when  I  met  the 
reindeer  hunter  two  years  ago:  I  wanted  to  explore 
a  little,  to  see  what  there  was  there." 

"Exactly  like  all  that  we  imagined  about  the 
citv,"  exclaimed  Inger-Johanna. 

"You  ought  to  go  with  your  father  part  of  the 
way  over  the  mountains,  Miss  Inger-Johanna — 
see  if  you  could  find  some  lofty  bower." 


120  THE  FAMILY  AT  GILJE 

"That  is  an  idea,  not  at  all  stupid,"  broke  in  the 
captain,  "  not  impossible,  not  at  all !  You  could  ride 
all  the  way  to  the  Gronnelid  saeters.^'' 

"Ah,  if  you  could  carry  that  through,  father!" 
she  exclaimed  earnestly.  "Now  I  have  also  taken 
a  fancy  to  see  what  there  is  there  —  I  believe  we 
always  thought  the  world  ended  over  there  at  our 
own  saeter  pastures." 

"  I  have  some  blankets  on  the  pack-saddle,  and 
where  they  can  get  a  roof  over  my  head  there  will  be 
room  enough  for  you  too. — Come,  come,  Morten, 
will  you  let  people  alone!"  The  captain  took  out 
a  roll  of  tobacco  and  held  a  piece  out  to  the  stable 
goat,  that  was  coming,  leaping,  towards  them  from 
the  yard.  "There,  mumble-beard  —  he  will  have 
his  allowance,  the  rascal.  —  Ma,"  he  called,  when  he 
saw  her  coming  from  the  storehouse,  "what  would 
you  say  if  I  should  take  Inger-Johanna  with  me 
to-morrow?  Then  they  will  have  company  home 
on  Friday  with  Ola  and  the  horses — she  and  Jor- 
gen." 

"  But,  dear  Jager,  why  should  she  go  up  there  ? " 

"She  can  pass  the  night  at  Gronnelid  saeter T 

"Such  a  fatiguing  trip!  It  is  absolutely  without 
a  path  and  wild  where  you  must  go." 

"She  can  ride  the  horse  a  good  ways  beyond  the 
saeter.  Svarten  will  go  as  steady  as  a  minister  with 
her  and  the  pack-saddle — both  on  the  mountain 
and  in  the  bog.  I  will  take  the  dun  horse  myself." 


CHAPTER  VI  121 

He  had  become  very  eager  at  the  prospect  of  tak- 
ing her  with  him.  "Certainly,  you  shall  go.  You 
must  put  a  good  lot  in  the  provision  bag,  Ma.  We 
must  be  off  early  to-morrow  at  five  o'clock.  Tron- 
bergwill  join  us  with  a  horse  farther  up,  so  there 
will  be  a  way  of  giving  you  a  mount  also.  Grip." 
Grip  started  on  a  run  with  Jorgen  towards  the 
yard,  finally  caught  him,  and  drove  him  in  through 
the  open  kitchen  window. 

The  captain,  with  his  neck  burned  brown,  toiled, 
red  and  sweating  in  his  shirt-sleeves,  in  the  moun- 
tain fields  up  under  Torsknut. 

The  packhorses  went  first  with  Inger-Johanna 
and  all  the  equipment,  and  by  the  side  of  the  cap- 
tain walked  some  farmers  who  carried  their  coats  on 
sticks  over  their  shoulders  on  account  of  the  heat, 
and  eagerly  pointed  out  bounds  and  marks,  every 
time  they  stopped  and  he  was  to  draw  some  line 
or  other  as  a  possible  connection. 

They  had  passed  the  night  at  the  Gronnelid  sae- 
ters  and  been  out  on  the  moors  making  a  sketch 
survey  at  five  o'clock  in  the  morning,  had  ridden 
over  flat  mountain  wastes  among  willow  thickets, 
while  the  horses,  step  by  step,  waded  across  wind- 
ings of  the  same  river. 

Now  they  stopped  again  after  a  steep  ascent  to 
wait  for  Tronberg,  whom  they  had  seen  below  on 
the  hills. 


122  THE  FAMILY  AT  GILJE 

The  captain  took  out  his  spy-glass,  and  after  a 
cursory  glance  over  the  shining  icy  fields  which  lay 
like  a  distant  sea  of  milk,  turned  it  farther  and 
farther  down. 

The  perspiration  rolled  in  great  drops  off  his 
forehead  and  eyelids,  so  that  the  glass  was  blurred, 
and  he  was  obliged  to  wipe  it  again  with  his  large, 
worn  silk  handkerchief. 

Then  he  rested  the  spy-glass  on  the  back  of  the 
packhorse,  and  held  it  still  a  long  time.  "That 
must  be  the  Rognelid  folk,  after  all,  who  are  moving 
there  west  of  Braekstad  heights.  Whatdo  you  say?" 

The  people  to  whom  he  turned  needed  only  to 
shade  their  eyes  to  agree  with  him  that  it  was  the 
opposite  party  whom  they  were  to  meet  the  next 
morning  at  Lake  Tiske.  But  they  were  too  polite 
fellows  to  express  it  otherwise  than  by  saying  in  a  flat- 
tering manner,"  What  a  spy-glass  the  captain  has ! " 

During  this  surveying  business  he  was  borne, 
so  to  speak,  on  a  royal  cushion  by  the  anxious  in- 
terests of  both  parties  to  the  contest;  it  contributed 
to  the  pleasure  he  took  in  his  trips  in  the  moun- 
tains in  summer  to  feel  himself  in  that  way  lifted 
up  by  their  hands. 

"  Have  you  been  fishing,  Tronberg  ? "  he  shouted 
when  the  head  of  the  subaltern's  "  Rauen  "  appeared 
nodding  down  in  the  steep  path.  "Trout!  Caught 
to-day?" 

"This  morning.  Captain." 


CHAPTER  VI  123 

The  captain  took  up  the  string  and  looked  at 
the  gills.  "  Yes,  they  are  to-day's." 

The  subaltern  took  off  his  hat,  and  dried  his 
forehead  and  head.  "One  could  easily  have  fried 
the  fish  on  the  rocky  wall  in  the  whole  of  that  pan 
of  a  valley  over  there  that  I  came  through,"  Tron- 
berg  said. 

"  Fine  fish.  See  that.  Grip, — weighs  at  least  three 
pounds." 

"Goodness  sake,  the  young  lady  here!"  ex- 
claimed the  subaltern,  involuntarily  bringing  him- 
self up  to  a  salute  when  Inger-Johanna  turned  her 
horse  round  and  looked  at  the  shiny  speckled  fish 
which  hung  on  the  pack-saddle. 

But  old  Lars  Opidalen,  the  one  who  had  asked 
for  the  survey,  gently  passed  his  coarse  hand  over 
hers,  while  he  counted  the  trout  on  the  willow 
branch.  "Can  such  also  be  of  the  earth?"  he  said, 
quietly  wondering. 

"Help  the  young  lady,  Lars,  while  she  dis- 
mounts: it  is  not  well  to  ride  any  longer  on  this 
smooth  bare  rock." 

The  path  ascended,  steeper  and  steeper,  with 
occasional  marshy  breathing  places  in  between  — 
it  was  often  entirely  lost  in  the  gray  mountain. 

The  mournful  cry  of  a  fish  eagle  sounded  over 
them.  It  circled  around,  cried,  and  went  off  when 
Jorgen  shouted  at  it.  It  must  have  had  a  nest  some- 
where up  on  that  rocky  wall. 


124  THE  FAMILY  AT  GILJE 

The  captain's  shotgun  was  brought  out,  and 
Tronberg  attempted  a  shot,  but  could  not  get  within 
range.  If  he  could  only  lie  in  wait  for  it  behind  the 
great  stones  up  here ! 

The  eagle  whirled  around  again  near  them  with 
broad,  outspread  wings. 

Suddenly  there  was  a  report  up  above  on  the 
slope  strewn  with  stones,  and  the  eagle  made  some 
vigorous,  flapping  strokes  with  its  wings ;  it  strug- 
gled so  as  not  to  fall  down. 

The  shot  had  gone  through  one  wing,  so  that 
daylight  could  be  seen  through  the  hole  in  the 
feathers.  The  bird  evidently  found  it  difficult  to 
preserve  its  equilibrium. 

"What  a  shame! — it  is  wounded,"  exclaimed 
I  nger- Johanna. 

"Who  shot.''"  demanded  the  captain,  taken 
aback. 

"  Jorgen  ran  off  with  the  rifle,"  Tronberg  replied. 

"Jorgen!  He  can't  make  me  believe  it  was  his 
first  shot,  the  rogue !  But  he  shot  himself  free  from 
a  thrashing  that  time — for  it  was  a  good  shot, 
Tronberg.  The  rascal!  He  has  been  most  strictly 
forbidden  to  meddle  with  guns." 

"  Forbidden  indeed,"  murmured  Grip. "Is  it  not 
remarkable.  Miss  Inger-Johanna,  it  is  always  the 
forbidden  thing  in  which  we  are  most  skilful?  It 
is  exactly  these  prohibitions  that  constitute  our 
most  potent  education  —  But  that  is  going  the  way 


CHAPTER  VI  125 

of  villains  in  growth,  and  leaves  its  marks  behind — 
makes  men  with  good  heads  but  bad  characters." 

Grip  and  Inger-Johanna  walked  ahead  with  the 
horses.  A  strange,  hazy  warm  smoke  lay  below  over 
the  marshes  in  the  afternoon:  it  veiled  the  lines 
there.  Up  here  on  the  mountain  the  air  was  so 
sparkling  clear. 

Foot  by  foot,  the  animals  picked  their  way  over 
the  piles  of  stony  debris  between  the  enormous  fallen 
masses  which  lay,scattered  here  and  there,  likemoss- 
covered  gray  houses,  with  now  and  then  a  fairy  fore- 
lock of  dwarf  birch  upon  them,  while  on  the  moun- 
tain ledges  still  hung  yellow  tufts  of  saxifrage. 

"Only  see  all  this  warped,  twisted,  fairy  creation. 
You  could  say  that  life  is  really  turned  to  stone  here, 
— and  yet  it  bubbles  up." 

He  stopped.  "  Do  you  know  what  I  could  wish. 
Miss  Inger-Johanna?"  There  was  no  longer  any 
trace  of  the  strain  of  irony  which  usually  possessed 
him.  "Simply  to  be  a  schoolmaster! — teach  the 
children  to  lay  the  first  two  sticks  across  by  their 
own  plain  thoughts.  It  is  the  fundamental  logs  that 
are  laid  the  wrong  way  in  us.  They  ought  to  be  al- 
lowed to  believe  just  as  much  and  as  little  as  they 
could  really  swallow.  And  to  the  door  with  the 
whole  host  of  these  cherished,  satisfactory  prohi- 
bitions! I  should  only  show  the  results — mix  pow- 
der and  matches  together  before  their  eyes  till  it 
went  into  the  air,  and  then  say,  'If  you  please, 


126  THE  FAMILY  AT  GILJE 

Jorgen,  so  far  as  I  am  concerned,  you  can  go  with 
the  two  things  in  your  pocket  as  much  as  you 
like :  it  is  you,  yourself,  who  will  be  blown  into  the 
air.'  It  is  the  sense  of  responsibility  that  is  to  be 
cultivated  while  the  boy  is  growing  up,  if  he  is  to 
be  made  a  man." 

"You  have  an  awful  lot  of  ideas,  Grip." 
"Crotchets,  you  mean?  If  I  had  any  talent  with 
the  pen, — but  I  am  so  totally  dependent  on  word 
of  mouth.  You  see,  there  are  only  four  doors,  and 
they  are  called  theology,  philology,  medicine,  and 
law,  and  I  have  temporarily  knocked  at  the  last. 
What  I  want  there,  I  don't  know.  Have  you  heard 
of  the  cat  which  they  put  into  a  glass  ball  and 
pumped  the  air  out  .''It  noticed  that  there  was  some- 
thing wrong.  It  was  troubled  for  breath;  the  air 
was  constantly  getting  thinner  and  thinner;  and  so 
it  put  one  paw  on  the  hole.  I  shall  also  allow  my- 
self to  put  one  paw  on  the  draught  hole — for  here 
is  a  vacuum  —  not  up  in  the  skies  with  the  poets, 
of  course.  There  it  lightens  and  shines,  and  they 
write  about  working  for  the  people  and  for  free- 
dom and  for  everything  lofty  and  great  in  as  many 
directions  as  there  are  points  on  a  compass — but 
in  reality,  down  on  the  earth — for  a  prosaic  per- 
son who  would  take  hold  and  set  in  motion  a  little 
of  the  phrases  —  there  it  is  entirely  closed.  There 
is  no  use  for  all  our  best  thoughts  and  ideas  in  the 
practical  world,  I  can  tell  you;  not  even  so  much 


CHAPTER  VI  127 

that  a  man  can  manage  to  make  himself  unhappy 
in  them. 

"And  so  one  Hves  as  best  he  can  his  other  Hfe 
with  his  comrades,  and  re-baptizes  himself  in  punch 
with  them  every  time  he  has  been  really  untrue  to 
himself  in  the  tea  parties.  But  taste  this  air — every 
blessed  breath  like  a  glass  of  the  finest,  finest — 
nay,  what  shall  I  call  it?" 

"Punch,"  was  the  rather  short  answer. 

"No,  life!  With  this  free  nature  one  does  not 
feel  incited  to  dispute.  I  am  in  harmony  with  the 
mountain,  with  the  sun,  with  all  these  crooked 
tough  birch-osiers.  If  people  down  there  only  were 
themselves!  But  that  they  never  are,  except  in  a 
good  wet  party  when  they  have  got  themselves 
sufficiently  elevated  from  the  bottom  of  the  well. 
There  exists  a  whole  freemasonry,  the  members 
of  which  do  not  know  each  other  except  in  that 
form,  or  else  in  Westerman's  steam  baths  when 
Westerman  whips  us  with  fresh  birch  leaves  in  a 
temperature  of  eighty  degrees.  The  bath-house  was 
our  fathers'  national  club,  did  you  know  that?" 

"No,  indeed;  I  am  learning  a  great  many  new 
things,  I  think,"  she  said,  with  half  concealed  hu- 
mor. 

"  Listen,  listen!  The  golden  plover  whistling," 
whispered  Jorgen. 

The  sound  came  from  a  little  marshy  spot  which 
was  white  with  cotton  grass. 


128  THE  FAMILY  AT  GILJE 

They  stood  listening. 

"Did  you  ever  hear  anything  so  tremendously 
quiet,"  said  Grip,  "after  a  single  little  peep.  There 
are  such  peeps  here  and  there  in  the  country.  Abel, 
he  died,  he  did — of  what?  Of  drink,  they  said"  — 
he  shook  his  head — "of  vacuum." 

He  was  walking  in  his  shirt-sleeves,  and  flung 
the  willow  stick,  which  he  had  broken  off  while 
he  was  talking,  far  down  over  the  rocky  incline. 

"There,  Captain,  see  the  line,  as  it  has  been  from 
ancient  times  for  Opidalen,"  shouted  old  Lars  — 
"straight,  straight  along  by  the  Notch,  where  we 
shall  go  down  and  across  the  lake — straight  toward 
Rodkampen  on  Torsknut — there  where  you  see 
the  three  green  islands  under  the  rocks,  Captain." 
He  shook  his  stick  in  his  eagerness.  "  For  that  I 
shall  bring  witnesses — and  if  they  were  all  living 
here  who  have  fished  on  our  rights  in  the  lake, 
both  in  my  father's  and  grandfather's  time,  there 
would  be  a  crowd  of  people  against  their  villainies 
in  Rognelien." 

The  afternoon  shadows  fell  into  the  Notch, 
where  the  ice-water  trickled  down  through  the 
cracks  in  the  black  mountain  wall.  Here  and  there 
the  sun  still  shone  on  patches  of  greenish  yellow 
reindeer  moss,  on  some  violet,  white,  or  yellow  little 
clusters  of  high  mountain  flowers,  which  exempli- 
fied the  miracle  of  living  their  tinted  life  of  beauty 
up  here  close  to  the  snow. 


CHAPTER  VI  129 

"There  comes  Mathis  with  the  boat,"  ex- 
claimed old  Lars. 

The  boat,  which  was  to  carry  them  over  to  the 
shelter,  crept  like  an  insect  far  below  them  on  the 
green  mirror  of  the  lake. 

The  going  down  was  real  recreation  for  the  cap- 
tain's rather  stout  body,  short  of  breath  as  he  was, 
and  the  prospect  of  being  able  to  indulge  in  his  fa- 
vorite sport,  fishing,  contributed  greatly  to  enliven- 
ing his  temper. 

"  We  are  coming  here  just  at  the  right  time :  they 
will  bite,"  he  suggested. 

When  they  embarked  in  the  square  trough, 
which  was  waiting  for  them  down  by  the  fishing- 
hut,  he  had  the  line  ready.  He  had  already,  with 
great  activity,  taken  care  of  the  bait,  carried  in  a 
goat's  horn. 

Those  of  the  train  who  could  not  be  accommo- 
dated in  the  boat  went  around  the  lake  with  the 
horses.  They  saw  them  now  and  then  on  the  crags, 
while  they  rowed  out. 

"  What  do  you  say  to  a  trial  along  the  shore  there 
in  the  shade,  Mathis?  Don't  you  think  they  will 
take  the  hook  there?  —  We  are  not  rowing  so 
straight  over  at  once,  I  think,"  said  the  captain  slyly. 

Under  the  thwarts  Mathis's  own  line  was  lying; 
and  Inger-Johanna  also  wanted  to  try  her  hand  at  it. 

The  captain  put  the  bait  on  for  her.  But  she 
would  not  sit  and  wait  till  they  reached  the  fishing 


130  THE  FAMILY  AT  GILJE 

place ;  she  threw  the  line  out  at  once  and  let  it  trail 
behind  the  boat,  while,  as  they  rowed,  she,  off  and 
on,  gave  a  strong  pull  at  it. 

"See  how  handy  she  is,"  exclaimed  the  captain; 
"it  is  inborn — you  come  from  a  race  of  fishermen, 
for  I  was  brought  up  in  the  Bergen  district,  and  my 
father  before  me.  If  I  had  a  dollar  for  every  codfish 
I  have  pulled  out  of  Alverstrommen,  there  would 
be  something  worth  inheriting  from  me  —  What! 
what!" 

A  swirl  was  heard  far  behind  in  the  wake.  Inger- 
Johanna  gave  a  vigorous  pull;  the  yellow  belly  of  a 
fish  appeared  a  moment  in  the  sunlight  above  the 
surface  of  the  water. 

She  continued,  after  the  first  feverish  jerk  upon 
the  line,  in  a  half  risen  position,  to  pull  it  in. 

When  she  lifted  the  shining  fish  high  upon  the 
edge  of  the  boat,  she  burst  out  into  a  triumphant 
cry,  "The  first  fish  I  have  ever  caught!" 

Grip  took  the  fish  off  the  hook,  and  threw  it  far 
off.  "Then  it  shall  also  be  allowed  to  keep  its  life!" 

The  captain  angrily  moved  his  heavy  body,  so 
that  it  shook  the  boat.  But  that  the  ill-timed  offer- 
ing to  the  deep  was  made  for  the  honor  of  the  apple 
of  his  eye  greatly  mitigated  the  stupidity. 

And  when  they  got  in  under  the  knoll,  where 
he  cast  his  line,  he  suddenly  sang  a  verse  from  his 
youthful  recollections  of  the  Bergen  quarter,  which 
had  slumbered  in  him  for  many  a  long  year. 


CHAPTER  VI  131 

/  lay  basking  in  the  sun, 

JVhile  the  boat  was  drifting  in  the  current, 

I  heard  the  sillock  and  climbed  into  the  top, 

I  was  giddy  with  my  dream. 

I  awoke  wet  through. 

And  the  thwart  was  floating. 

While  the  boat  was  drifting  in  the  current. 

His  deep  bass  came  out  with  full  force  in  the  silence 
under  the  knoll. 

The  lake  was  like  a  mirror,  and  the  captain  took 
one  trout  after  another, 

Torsknut,  with  patches  and  fields  of  snow  on 
the  summit,  stood  on  its  head  deep  down  below 
them,  so  that  it  almost  caused  a  giddy  feeling  when 
they  looked  out  over  the  boat-rail.  And  when  they 
arrived  under  the  cattle  station,  the  steep  green 
mountain  side,  with  all  the  grazing  cattle,  was  re- 
produced so  clearly  that  they  could  count  the  horns 
in  the  water. 

"Nay,  here  the  cows  walk  like  flies  on  the  wall," 
said  the  captain.  "  If  the  milk-bucket  falls  up  there, 
it  will  roll  down  to  us  into  the  boat." 

The  shelter  was,  in  fact,  nothing  more  than  a  Httle 
mud  hut  on  the  rocky  slope,  and  a  little  wooden 
shed,  with  boulders  on  the  roof,  and  a  hole  in  it. 
There  the  captain  was  to  be  quartered,  and  Inger- 
Johanna  was  to  sleep  till  the  sun  rose,  and  she, 
with  Jorgen,  Great-Ola,  and  Svarten,  should  go 
back  again  to  the  Gronnelid  saeters. 


132  THE  FAMILY  AT  GILJE 

They  had  eaten  supper — the  trout  and  an  im- 
provised cream  porridge — and  were  now  standing, 
watching  the  sun  set  behind  the  great  mountains. 

The  captain  was  going  about  on  the  turf,  in 
sHppers  and  unbuttoned  uniform  coat,  smoking  his 
pipe  with  extreme  satisfaction.  He  stopped  now  and 
then  and  gazed  at  the  sun  playing  on  the  mountain 
peaks  far  away. 

Then  a  range  of  hitherto  dark  blue  peaks  took 
fire  in  violet  blushing  tints,  until  they  seemed  an 
entire  glowing  flame.  And  now  the  snow-fields  be- 
came rose-red  in  the  east — wonderful  fairy  tales  in 
towers  and  castles  gleamed  there — the  three  snowy 
peaks  then  were  turned  to  blood,  with  a  burning, 
shining  flash  on  top  of  the  middle  one.  And  again 
in  the  distance,  still  unlighted,  blue  peaks,  snow- 
drifts, and  glens,  on  which  the  shadows  were  playing. 

Jorgen  was  lying,  with  his  father's  spy-glass, 
watching  the  reindeer  on  the  ice-fields. 

"Good-by,  Miss  Inger-Johanna,"  said  Grip. 
"  I  am  going  over  the  mountains  to-night,  with  one 
of  the  men  to  guide  me.  There  are  more  people 
here  than  the  hut  will  accommodate.  But  first  let 
me  say  to  you,"  he  added  in  a  subdued  tone,  "that 
this  open-hearted  day  on  the  high  mountain  has 
been  one  of  the  few  of  my  life.  ...  I  have  not  found 
it  necessary  to  say  a  single  cowardly,  bad  witticism 
—  nor  to  despise  myself,"  he  added  roughly. 
"Yes, just  so — just  as  you  stand  there,  so  fine  and 


CHAPTER  VI  133 

erect  and  haughty,  under  the  great  straw  hat,  I  shall 
remember  you  till  we  meet  in  the  city  again." 

"It  is  a  good  ten  miles  to  Svartdalsbod,"  sug- 
gested the  captain,  when  he  took  leave — "always 
welcome  to  Gilje,  Grip." 

He  was  already  giving  his  farewell  greetings  a 
good  distance  up  the  steep  ascent  of  Torsknut. 

"Does  not  seem  to  know  fatigue,  that  fellow," 
said  the  captain. 

She  stood  looking  at  him.  The  last  rays  of  the 
sun  cast  a  pale  yellow  tinge  in  the  evening  with  this 
transparent  mirroring.  There  was  such  a  warm  life 
in  her  face! 

Some  kind  of  an  insect — a  humble-bee  or  a 
wasp — buzzed  through  the  open  window  into  the 
room  newly  tinted  in  blue — hummed  so  noisily  on 
the  window-pane  that  the  young  girl  with  the  lux- 
uriant black  hair  and  the  slightly  dark,  clear-cut 
face,  who  was  lying  sleeping  into  the  morning,  was 
almost  aroused. 

She  lay  sound  asleep  on  her  side,  after  having 
come  home  in  the  night.  The  impressions  of  the 
mountains'  summits  were  still  playing  in  her  brain. 
She  had  another  trout  on  the  line — it  flashed  and 
floundered  there  in  the  lake  —  Grip  came  up  with 
two  sticks,  which  were  to  be  placed  crossways. 

Surr-humm!  straight  into  her  face,  so  that  she 
woke  up. 


134  THE  FAMILY  AT  GILJE 

The  day  was  already  far  advanced. 

There  on  the  toilet  table  with  white  hangings 
above  it  surrounding  the  glass  which  had  been  put 
there  for  her  return  home,  was  the  violet  soap  in 
silver  paper. 

It  was  plainly  that  which  attracted  all  the  inexpe- 
rienced insects  to  ruin :  they  had  found  the  way  to 
an  entirely  new  world  of  flowers  there  and  plunged 
blindly  headlong,  believing  in  the  discovery,  without 
any  conception  of  the  numerous  artificial  products 
of  the  age  outside  of  the  mountain  region — that 
the  fragrance  of  violets  did  not  produce  violets,  but 
only  horrid,  horrid  pains  in  the  stomach.  There 
plainly  existed  an  entire  confusion  in  their  ideas,  to 
judge  by  all  the  disquiet  and  humming  in  and  out' 
of  those  that  had  recently  come  and  possibly  began 
to  suspect  something  wrong  and  took  a  turn  or  two 
up  and  down  in  the  room  first,  before  the  tempta- 
tion became  too  great  for  them,  and  by  the  earlier 
arrivals  that  slowly  crept  up  and  down  on  the  wall 
with  acquired  experience  in  life,  or  were  lying  stu- 
pefied and  floundering  on  the  window-sill. 

"  Ish !  — and  straight  up  into  the  washing  water." 

She  looked  with  a  certain  indignation  at  the  cause 
—  her  violet  soap. 

At  the  same  time  it  opened  a  new  train  of  thought 
while  she  smelled  it  two  or  three  times. 

"  Mother's  yellow  soap  is  more  honest." 

She  quickly  threw  it  out  of  the  window,  and  with 


CHAPTER  VI  135 

a  towel  carefully  wiped  those  that  had  fallen  on  the 
field  of  battle  off  the  sill. 

Later  in  the  forenoon.  Ma  and  Inger-Johanna 
stood  down  in  the  garden,  picking  sugar  peas  for 
dinner. 

"Only  the  ripest,  Inger-Johanna,  which  are  be- 
coming too  hard  and  woody,  till  your  father  comes 
home.  What  will  your  aunt  say  when  she  hears  that 
we  have  let  you  go  with  your  father  so  far  up  in  the 
wilderness — she  certainly  will  not  think  such  a  trip 
very  inviting,  or  comprehend  that  you  can  be  so 
eloquent  over  stone  and  rocks."  ' 

"  No,  she  thinks  that  nothing  can  compete  with 
their  Tullerod,"  said  Inger-Johanna,  smiling. 

"Pass  the  plate  over  to  me,  so  that  I  may  empty 
it  into  the  basket,"  came  from  Ma. 

"So  aunt  writes  that  Ronnow  is  going  to  stay  all 
winter  in  Paris." 

"Ronnow,  yes — but  I  shall  amuse  myself  very 
well  by  reading  aloud  to  her  this  winter  Gedeckes 
Travels  in  Switzerland^ — and  then  give  her  small 
doses  of  my  trip." 

"Now  you  are  talking  without  thinking,  Inger- 
Johanna.  There  is  always  a  great  difference  between 
that  which  is  within  the  circle  of  culture  and  deso- 
late wild  tracts  up  here  in  the  mountain  region." 

Ma's  bonnet-covered  head  bowed  down  behind 
the  pea-vines. 

"  Father  says  that  it  is  surely  because  they  want 


136  THE  FAMILY  AT  GILJE 

to  use  him  at  Stockholm  that  he  is  going  to  perfect 
himself  in  French." 

"Yes,  he  is  certainly  going  to  become  something 
great.  You  can  believe  we  find  it  ever  so  snug  and 
pleasant  when  we  are  sometimes  at  home  alone  and 
I  read  aloud  to  aunt." 

Ma's  large  bonnet,  spotted  with  blue,  rose  up,  and 
with  a  table  knife  in  her  hand  she  passed  the  empty 
plate  back.  "And  he  has  the  bearing  which  suits,  the 
higher  he  gets." 

"  Quite  perfect — but  I  don't  know  how  it  is,  one 
does  not  care  to  think  about  him  up  here  in  the 
country." 

Ma  stood  a  moment  with  the  table  knife  in  her 
hand. 

"Thatwilldo,"she  said,as  she  took  up  the  basket, 
somewhat  troubled — "We  shan't  have  many  peas 
this  year,"  she  added,  sighing. 


Chapter  VII 

THE  kitchen  at  Gilje  was  completely  given 
over  to  Christmas  preparations. 

There  was  a  cold  draught  from  the  porch,  an  odor 
in  the  air  of  mace,  ginger,  and  cloves — a  roar  of 
chopping-knives,  and  dull  rumbling  and  beating 
so  that  the  floor  shook  from  the  wooden  mortar, 
where  Great-Ola  himself  was  stationed  with  a  white 
apron  and  a  napkin  around  his  head. 

At  the  head  of  the  long  kitchen  table  Ma  was  sit- 
ting, with  a  darning-needle  and  linen  thread,  sewing 
collared  beef,  while  some  of  the  crofter  women  and 
Thea,  white  as  angels,  were  scraping  meat  for  the 
fine  meat-balls. 

There,  on  the  kitchen  bench,  with  bloody,  mur- 
derous arms,  sat  Thinka,who  had  recently  returned 
home,  stuffing  sausages  over  a  large  trough.  It 
went  with  great  skill  through  the  filler,  and  she  fas- 
tened up  the  ends  with  wooden  skewers,  and  strug- 
gled with  one  dark,  disagreeable,  gigantic  leech  after 
another,  while  their  brothers  or  sisters  were  boil- 
ing in  the  mighty  kettle,  around  which  the  flames 
crackled  and  floated  ofi^  in  the  open  fireplace.  . 

The  captain  had  come  into  the  kitchen,  and 
stood  surveying  the  field  of  battle  with  a  sort  of 
pleasure.  There  were  many  kinds  of  agreeable  pros- 
pects here  for  the  thoughts  to  dwell  upon,  and 
samples  of  the  finished  products  were  continually 


138  THE  FAMILY  AT  GILJE 

being  sent  up  to  the  office  for  him  to  give  his  opin- 
ion on. 

"I'll  show  you  how  you  should  chop,  girls,"  he 
said  sportively,  and  took  the  knives  from  Tor- 
bjorg. 

The  two  chopping-knives  in  his  hands  went  up 
and  down  in  the  chopping-tray  so  furiously  that 
they  could  hardly  be  distinguished,  and  awakened 
unmistakable  admiration  in  the  whole  kitchen,  while 
all  paused  in  bewilderment  at  the  masterpiece. 

It  is  true,  it  continued  for  only  two  or  three  min- 
utes, while  Torbjorg  and  Aslak  must  stand  with 
linen  towels  on  their  heads  and  chop  all  day. 

But  victory  is  still  victory,  and  when  the  captain 
afterwards  went  into  the  sitting-room,  humming 
contentedly,  itwas  not  without  a  little  amused  recol- 
lection of  his  strategy, — for,  "yes,  upon  my  soul," 
he  could  feel  that  his  arms  ached  afterwards,  never- 
theless. And  he  rubbed  them  two  or  three  times 
before  he  tied  a  napkin  around  his  neck  and  seated 
himself  at  the  table  in  order  to  do  justice  to  the 
warm  blood-pudding,  with  raisins  and  butter  on  it, 
which  Thinka  brought  in  to  him. 

"  A  little  mustard,  Thinka." 

Thinka's  quiet  figure  glided  to  the  corner  cup- 
board after  the  desired  article. 

"The  plate  might  have  been  warmer  for  this 
kind  of  thing  —  it  really  ought  to  be  almost  burn- 
ing hot  for  the  raisins  and  butter." 


CHAPTER  VII  139 

The  always  handy  Thinka  was  out  by  the  chim- 
ney in  a  moment  with  a  plate.  She  came  in  again 
with  it  in  a  napkin ;  it  could  not  be  held  in  any  other 
way. 

"Just  pour  it  all  over  on  to  this  plate,  father,  and 
then  you  will  see." 

One  of  the  happy  domestic  traits  which  Thinka 
had  disclosed  since  her  return  home  was  a  wonderful 
knack  of  managing  her  father;  there  was  hardly  any 
trace  of  peevishness  any  longer. 

Thinka's  quiet,  agreeable  pliancy  and  cool,  even 
poise  spread  comfort  in  the  house.  The  captain 
knew  that  he  only  needed  to  put  her  on  the  track 
of  some  good  idea  or  other  in  the  way  of  food,  and 
something  always  came  of  it.  She  was  so  handy, 
while,  when  Ma  yielded,  it  was  always  done  so 
clumsily  and  with  difficulty,  just  as  if  she  creaked 
on  being  moved,  so  to  speak,  that  he  became  fret- 
ful, and  began  to  dispute  in  spite  of  it,  notwith- 
standing she  knew  very  well  he  could  not  bear  it. 

A  very  great  deal  had  been  done  since  Monday 
morning,  and  to-morrow  evening  it  was  to  be  hoped 
they  would  be  ready.  Two  cows,  a  heifer,  and  a  hog, 
that  was  no  little  slaughtering ^r- besides  the  sheep' 
carcasses. 

"The  sheriff — the  sheriff's  horse  is  in  the  yard," 
was  suddenly  reported  in  the  twilight  into  the  bustle 
of  the  kitchen. 

The  sheriff!  It  was  lightning  that  struck. 


I40  THE  FAMILY  AT  GILJE 

"Hurry  up  to  the  office  and  get  your  father 
down  to  receive  him,  Jorgen,"  said  Ma,  compos- 
ing herself.  "You  will  have  to  take  off  the  towels 
and  then  stop  pounding,  Great-Ola,  exasperating  as 
it  is." 

"They  smell  it  when  the  pudding  smokes  in  the 
kettle,  I  think,"  exclaimed  Marit,  in  her  lively 
mountain  dialect.  "Isn't  it  the  second  year  he  has 
come  here  just  at  the  time  of  the  Christmas  slaugh- 
tering? So  they  are  rid  of  the  menfolk  lying  in  the 
way  at  home  among  themselves." 

"Your  tongue  wags,  Marit,"  said  Ma,  reprov- 
ingly. "The  sheriff  certainly  does  not  find  it  any 
too  pleasant  at  home  since  he  lost  his  wife,  poor 
man." 

But  it  was  dreadfully  unfortunate  that  he  came 
just  now — excessively  unfortunate.  She  must  keep 
her  ground;  it  wouldn't  do  to  stop  things  out  here 
now.  The  captain  came  hastily  out  into  the  kitchen. 
"The  sheriff  will  stay  here  till  to-morrow — it  can't 
be  helped,  Ma.  I  will  take  care  of  him,  if  we  only 
get  a  little  something  to  eat." 

"Yes,  that  is  easy  to  say,  Jager — just  as  all  of 
us  have  our  hands  full." 

"Some  minced  meat — fried  meat-balls — a  little 
blood-pudding.  That  is  easy  enough.  I  told  him 
that  he  would  have  slaughter-time  fare — and  then, 
Thinka,"  he  nodded  to  her,  "a  little  toddy  as  soon 
as  possible." 


CHAPTER  VIT  141 

Thinka  had  already  started ;  she  only  stopped  a 
moment  at  her  bureau  upstairs. 

She  was  naturally  so  unassuming,  and  was  not 
accustomed  to  feel  embarrassed.  Therefore  she 
brought  in  the  toddy  tray  like  the  wind,  stopping 
only  to  put  a  clean  blue  apron  on  ;  and,  after  having 
spoken  to  the  sheriff,  went  to  the  cupboard  after 
rum  and  arrack,  and  to  the  tobacco  table  after  some 
lighters,  which  she  put  down  by  the  tray  for  the 
gentlemen  before  she  vanished  out  through  the 
kitchen  door  again. 

"You  must  wash  your  hands,  Torbjorg,  and 
put  things  to  rights  in  the  guest-chamber;  and  then 
we  must  send  a  messenger  for  Anne  Vaelta  to  help 
us,  little  as  she  is  fit  for.  Jorgen,  hurry ! "  came  from 
Ma,  who  saw  herself  more  and  more  deprived  of 
her  most  needed  forces. 

Great-Ola  had  put  up  the  sheriff's  horse,  and 
now  stood  pounding  again  at  the  mortar  in  his  white 
surplice— -thump,  thump,  thump,  thump. 

"Are  you  out  of  your  senses  out  here?  Don't 
you  think  ? "  said  the  captain,  bouncing  in ;  he  spoke 
in  a  low  voice,  but  for  that  reason  the  more  pas- 
sionately. "Are  n't  you  going  to  mangle,  too  ?  Then 
the  sheriff  would  get  a  thundering  with  a  vengeance, 
both  over  his  head  and  under  his  feet.  It  shakes  the 
floor." 

A  look  of  despair  came  over  Ma's  face;  in  the 
sudden,  dark,  wild  glance  of  her  eye  there  almost 


142  THE  FAMILY  AT  GILJE 

shone  rebellion — »now  he  was  beginning  to  drive 
her  too  far — But  it  ended  in  a  resigned,  "You  can 
take  the  mortar  with  you  out  on  the  stone  floor  of 
the  porch,  Great-Ola." 

And  Thinka  had  to  attend  to  the  work  of  put- 
ting things  in  order  and  carrying  in  the  supper,  so 
that  it  was  only  necessary  for  Ma  to  sit  there  a  little 
while,  as  they  were  eating,  though  she  was  on  pins 
and  needles,  it  is  true;  but  she  must  act  as  if  there 
was  nothing  the  matter. 

When  Ma  came  in,  there  was  a  little  formal  talk 
in  the  beginning  between  her  and  the  sheriff  about 
the  heavy  loss  he  had  suffered.  She  had  not  met 
him  since  he  lost  his  wife,  three  months  ago.  It  was 
lonesome  for  him  now  that  he  had  only  his  sister. 
Miss  Giilcke,  with  hira.  Both  Viggo  and  Baldrian, 
which  was  a  short  name  for  Baltazar,  were  at  the 
Latin  school,  and  would  not  come  home  again  till 
next  year,  when  Viggo  would  enter  the  university. 

The  sheriff  winked  a  little,  and  made  a  mourn- 
ful gesture  as  if  he  wanted  to  convey  an  idea  of 
sadly  wiping  one  eyelash,  but  no  more.  He  had 
given  an  exhibition  of  grief  within  nearly  every 
threshold  in  the  district  by  this  time,  and  here  he 
was  in  the  house  of  people  of  too  much  common 
sense  not  to  excuse  him  from  any  more  protracted 
outburst  just  before  a  spread  table  with  hot  plates. 

It  developed  into  a  rather  long  session  at  the 
table — with  ever  stronger  compliments,  as  often 


CHAPTER  VII  143 

as  there  was  opportunity  during  the  meal-time  to 
catch  a  glimpse  of  the  hostess,  for  every  new  dish 
thatThinka  brought  in  smoking  deliciously  straight 
from  the  pan — actually  a  slaughtering  feast — with 
a  fine  bottle  of  old  ale  in  addition  —  for  the  new 
Christmas  brew  was  too  fresh  as  yet  —  and  two  or 
three  good  drams  brought  in  just  at  the  right  time. 

The  sheriff  also  understood  very  well  what  was 
going  on  in  the  house,  and  how  the  hostess  and 
Thinka  were  managing  it. 

The  grown-up  daughter  cleared  off  the  table  and 
took  care  of  everything  so  handily  and  comforta- 
bly without  any  bother  and  fuss — and  so  consid- 
erately. They  had  their  pipes  and  a  glass  of  toddy 
by  their  side  again  there  on  the  sofa,  with  a  fresh 
steaming  pitcher,  before  they  were  aware  of  it. 

The  small  inquisitive  eyes  of  Sheriff  Gulcke 
stood  far  apart;  they  looked  into  two  corners  at 
once,  while  his  round,  bald  head  shone  on  the  one 
he  talked  to.  He  sat  looking  at  the  blond,  rather 
slender  young  lady,  with  the  delicate,  light  com- 
plexion, who  busied  herself  so  silently  and  grace- 
fully. 

"You  are  a  fortunate  man,  you  are.  Captain," 
he  said,  speaking  into  the  air. 

"Have  a  little  taste,  Sheriff,"  said  the  captain 
consolingly,  and  they  touched  glasses. 

"Nay,  you  who  have  a  house  full  of  comfort 
can  talk — cushions  about  you  in  every  corner — 


144  THE  FAMILY  AT  GILJE 

so  you  can  export  to  the  city — But  I,  you  see," 
---his  eyes  became  moist — "sit  there  in  my  office 
over  the  records.  I  was  very  much  coddled,  you 
know — oh,  well,  don't  let  us  talk  about  it.  I  must 
have  my  punishment  for  one  thing  and  another, 
I  suppose,  as  well  as  others. 

"Is  n't  it  true.  Miss  Kathinka,"  he  asked  when 
she  came  in,  "it  is  a  bad  sheriff  who  wholly  un- 
bidden falls  straight  down  upon  you  in  slaughter- 
ing-time.'' But  you  must  lend  him  a  little  home 
comfort,  since  it  is  all  over  with  such  things  at  his 
own  home. 

"Bless  me,  I  had  almost  forgotten  it,"  he  ex- 
claimed eagerly,  and  hastened,  with  his  pipe  in  his 
mouth,  to  his  document  case,  which  hung  on  a 
chair  near  the  door.  "I  have  the  second  volume 
of  'The  hast  of  the  Mohicans  for  you  from  Bine 
Scharfenberg,  and  was  to  get — nay,  what  was  it.? 
It  is  on  a  memorandum — A  Capricious  IVoman^ 
by  Emilie  Carlen." 

He  took  it  out  eagerly  and  handed  it  over  to 
her,  not  without  a  certain  gallantry. 

"Now  you  must  not  forget  to  give  it  to  me  to- 
morrow morning.  Miss  Kathinka,"  he  said  threat- 
eningly, "or  else  you  will  make  me  very  unhappy 
down  at  Bine  Scharfenberg's.  It  won't  do  to  offend 
her,  you  know." 

Even  while  the  sheriff  was  speaking,  Thinka's 
eye  glided  eagerly  over  the  first  lines — only  to 


r 


CHAPTER  VII  145 

make  sure  about  the  continuation — and  in  a  twink- 
ling she  was  down  again  from  her  room  with  the 
read-through  book  by  Carlen  and  the  first  volume 
of  the  Mohicans  done  up  in  paper  and  tied  with 
a  bit  of  thread. 

"You  are  as  prompt  as  a  man  of  business,  Miss 
Thinka,"  he  said  jokingly,  as  with  a  sort  of  slow 
carefulness  he  put  the  package  into  his  case;  his 
two  small  eyes  shone  tenderly  upon  her. 

Notwithstanding  there  had  been  slaughtering 
and  hubbub  ever  since  early  in  the  morning, 
Thinka  must  still,  after  she  had  gone  to  bed,  allow 
herself  to  peep  a  little  in  the  entertaining  book. 

It  was  one  chapter,  and  one  more,  and  still  one 
more,  with  ever  weakening  determination  to  end 
with  the  next. 

Still  at  two  o'clockinthe  morning  shelay  with  her 
candlestick  behind  her  on  the  pillow,  and  steadily 
read  The  Last  o/*/^^  M(?y^/f^;7j",  with  all  thevicissitudes 
of  the  pursuits  and  dangers  of  the  noble  Uncas. 

Ma  wondered,  it  is  true,  that  so  many  of  the 
slender  tallow  candles  were  needed  this  winter. 

The  sheriff  must  have  a  little  warm  breakfast 
before  going  away  in  the  morning. 

And  now  he  took  leave,  and  thanked  them  for 
the  hours  that  had  been  so  agreeable  and  cheering, 
although  he  came  so  inconveniently  —  oh,madame, 
he  knew  he  came  at  an  inconvenient  time.  "Al- 
though now  you  have  certainly  got  a  right  hand 


146  THE  FAMILY  AT  GILJE 

in  household  matters.  Yes,  Miss  Thinka,  I  have 
tested  you ;  one  does  not  have  the  eye  of  a  police- 
man for  nothing. 

"Invisible,  and  yet  always  at  hand,  like  a  quiet 
spirit  in  the  house — is  not  that  the  best  that  can 
be  said  of  a  woman  ? "  he  asked,  complimenting  her 
fervently,  when  he  had  got  his  scarf  around  his 
fiir  coat,  and  went  down  to  the  sleigh  with  beam- 
ing eyes  and  a  little  grayish  stubble  of  beard — for 
he  had  not  shaved  himself  to-day. 

"Pleasant  man,  the  sheriff.  His  heart  is  in  the 
right  place,"  said  the  captain  when,  enlivened  and 
rubbing  his  hands  from  the  cold,  he  came  in  again 
into  the  sitting-room. 

But  father  became  ill  after  all  the  rich  food  at  the 
slaughtering-time. 

The  army  doctor  advised  him  to  drink  water 
and  exercise  a  good  deal;  a  toddy  spree  now  and 
then  would  not  do  him  any  harm. 

And  it  did  not  improve  the  rush  of  blood  to  his 
head  that  Christmas  came  so  soon  after. 

Father  was  depressed,  but  was  reluctant  to  be 
bled,  except  the  customary  twice  a  year,  in  the 
spring  and  autumn. 

After  the  little  party  for  Buchholtz,  the  judge's 
chief  clerk,  on  Thursday,  he  was  much  worse.  He 
went  about  unhappy,  and  saw  loss  and  neglect  and 
erroneous  reckonings  in  all  quarters. 


CHAPTER  VII  147 

There  was  no  help  for  it,  a  messenger  must  go 
now  after  the  parish  clerk,  Ojseth. 

Besides  his  clerical  duties,  he  taught  the  youth, 
vaccinated,  and  let  blood. 

What  he  was  good  for  in  the  first  named  direc- 
tion shall  be  left  unsaid;  but  in  the  last  it  could 
safely  be  said  that  he  had  very  much,  nay,  barrels, 
of  the  blood  of  the  district  on  his  conscience,  and 
not  least  that  of  the  full-blooded  captain,  whom 
he  had  bled  regularly  now  for  a  series  of  years. 

The  effect  was  magnificent.  After  the  sultry  and 
oppressive  stormy  and  pessimistic  mood,  which 
filled,  so  to  speak,  every  groove  in  the  house  and 
oppressed  all  faces,  even  down  to  Pasop  —  a  brilliant 
fair  weather,  jokes  with  Thinka,  and  wild  plans 
that  the  family  should  go  down  in  the  summer  and 
see  the  manoeuvres. 

It  was  at  the  point  of  complete  good  humor  that 
Ma  resolutely  seized  the  opportunity  to  speak 
about  Jorgen's  going  to  school  —  all  that  Aunt 
Alette  had  offered  of  board  and  lodging,  and  what 
she  thought  could  be  managed  otherwise. 

There  was  a  reckoning  and  studying,  with  de- 
monstration and  counter-demonstration,  down  to 
the  finest  details  of  the  cost  of  existence  in  the  city. 

The  captain  represented  the  items  of  expendi- 
ture and  the  debit  side  in  the  form  of  indignant 
questions  and  conjectures  for  every  single  one,  as 
to  whether  she  wanted  to  ruin  him,  and  Ma  stub- 


148  THE  FAMILY  AT  GILJE 

bornly  and  persistently  defended  the  credit  side, 
while  she  went  over  and  went  over  again  all  the 
items  to  be  deducted. 

When,  time  after  time,  things  whirled  round  and 
round  in  the  continual  repetition,  so  that  she  got 
confused,  there  were  bad  hours  before  she  succeeded 
in  righting  herself  in  the  storm. 

The  captain  must  be  accustomed  to  it  slowly, 
until  it  penetrated  so  far  into  him  that  he  began 
to  see  and  think.  But,  like  a  persistent,  untiring 
cruiser,  she  always  had  the  goal  before  her  eyes 
and  drew  near  to  it  imperceptibly. 

"This  ready  money"  —  it  was  for  Ma  to  touch 
a  sore,  which  nevertheless  must  be  opened.  The 
result  was  that  the  captain  allowed  himself  to  be 
convinced,  and  now  became  himself  the  most  zeal- 
ous for  the  plan. 

Jorgen  was  examined  in  all  directions.  He  was 
obliged  to  sit  in  the  office,  and  the  captain  subjected 
him  to  the  cramming  process. 


"That's  as  old  as  the  hills,"  read  the  captain. 
"  If  you  swing  a  hen  round  and  put  her  down  back- 
wards with  a  chalk  mark  in  front  of  her  beak,  she 
will  lie  perfectly  still;  will  not  dare  to  move.  She  cer- 
tainly believes  it  is  a  string  that  holds  her.  I  have 
tried  it  ever  so  many  times  —  that  you  may  safely 
tell  her,  Thinka." 


CHAPTER  VII  149 

"But  why  does  Inger-Johanna  write  that?" 
asked  Ma,  rather  seriously. 

"Oh,  oh,  —  for  nothing — only  so  —  " 

Thinka  had  yesterday  received  her  own  letter, 
enclosed  in  that  to  her  parents;  it  was  a  letter  in 
regard  to  Ma's  approaching  birthday,  which  was 
under  discussion  between  the  sisters.  And  Inger- 
Johanna  had  given  her  a  lecture  in  it,  something 
almost  inciting  her  to  rebellion  and  to  stick  to  her 
flame  there  in  the  west,  if  there  really  was  any  fire 
in  it.  That  about  the  hen  and  the  chalk  mark  was 
something  at  second-hand  from  Grip.  Women 
could  be  made  to  believe  everything  possible,  and 
gladly  suffered  death  when  they  got  such  a  chalk 
mark  before  their  beaks ! 

That  might  be  true  enough,  Thinka  thought. 
But  now,  when  all  were  so  against  it,  and  she  saw 
how  it  would  distress  her  father  and  mother,  then 
—  she  sighed  and  had  a  lump  in  her  throat  —  the 
chalk  mark  was  really  thicker  than  she  could  man- 
age, nevertheless. 

Inger-Johanna's  letter  had  made  her  very  heavy 
hearted.  She  felt  so  unhappy  that  she  could  have 
cried,  if  any  one  only  looked  at  her;  and  as  Ma  did 
that  several  times  during  the  day,  she  probably 
went  about  a  little  red-eyed. 

At  night  she  read  Arwed  Gyllenstjerna^  by  Van 
der  Velde,  so  that  the  bitter  tears  flowed. 

Her  sister's  letter  also  contained  something  on 


150  THE  FAMILY  AT  GILJE 

her  own  account,  which  was  not  meant  for  her  father 
and  mother. 

For  you  see,  Thinka,  when  you  have  gone  through 
balls  here  as  I  have,  you  do  not  any  longer  skip 
about  blindly  with  all  the  lights  in  your  eyes.  You 
know  a  little  by  yourself;  one  way  or  another,  there 
ought  to  be  something  in  the  manner  of  the  per- 
son. Oh,  this  ball  chat!  I  say,  as  Grip  does:  I  am 
tired,  tired,  tired  of  it.  Aunt  is  n't  any  longer  so 
eager  that  I  shall  be  there,  though  many  times 
more  eager  than  I. 

There  I  am  now  looked  upon  as  haughty  and 
critical  and  whatever  else  it  is,  only  because  I  will 
not  continually  find  something  to  talk  away  about! 
Aunt  now  thinks  that  I  have  got  a  certain  coldness 
of  my  own  in  my  "too  lively  nature,"  a  reserved 
calm,  which  is  imposing  and  piquant — that  is  what 
she  wants,  I  suppose!  In  all  probabihty  just  like  the 
ice  in  the  steaming  hot  pudding  among  the  Chinese, 
which  we  read  about,  you  remember,  in  the  Bee. 

Aunt  has  so  many  whims  this  winter.  Now  we 
two  must  talk  nothing  but  French  together!  But 
that  she  should  write  to  Captain  Ronnow  that  I 
was  so  perfect  in  it,  I  did  not  like  at  all ;  I  have  no 
desire  to  figure  as  a  school-girl  before  him  when  he 
returns;  neither  is  my  pronunciation  so  "sweet," 
as  she  says ! 

I  really  don't  understand  her  any  longer.  If  there 


CHAPTER  VII  151 

was  any  one  who  could  and  ought  to  defend  Grip 
at  this  time,  it  should  be  she;  but  instead  of  that, 
she  attacks  him  whenever  she  can. 

He  has  begun  to  keep  a  free  Sunday-school  or 
lecture  for  those  who  choose  to  come,  in  a  hall  out 
on  Storgaden.  It  is  something,  you  know,  which 
creates  a  sensation.  And  aunt  shrugs  her  shoulders, 
and  looks  forward  to  the  time  when  he  will  vanish 
out  of  good  society,  although  she  has  always  been 
the  first  to  interest  herself  in  him  and  to  say  that 
he  came  with  something  new.  It  is  extremely  mean 
of  her,  I  think. 


Chapter  VIII 

JORGEN  must  start  on  his  journey  before  the 
sleighing  disappeared,  for  the  bad  roads  when 
the  frost  was  coming  out  might  last  till  St.  John's 
Day,  and  to  harness  the  horses  in  such  going  would 
be  stark  madness.  If  he  were  not  to  lose  a  whole 
year,  he  must  go  early  and  be  prepared  privately 
for  admission  to  school. 

Jorgen  was  lost  in  meditations  and  thoughts 
about  all  that  from  which  he  was  about  to  be  sep- 
arated. The  gun,  the  sleds,  the  skis,  the  turning- 
lathe,  the  tools,  the  wind-mill,  and  the  corn-mill 
left  behind  there  on  the  hills,  all  must  be  devised 
with  discretion  —  naturally  to  Thea  first  and  fore- 
most, on  condition  that  she  should  take  care  of 
them  till  he  came  home  again. 

If  he  had  been  asked  what  he  would  rather 
be,  he  would  doubtless  have  answered  "turner," 
"miller,"  or  "smith;"  the  last  thing  in  the  world 
which  would  have  presented  itself  to  his  range  of 
ideas,  to  say  nothing  of  coming  up  as  a  bent  or 
a  longing,  would  have  been  the  lifting  up  to  the 
loftier  regions  of  books.  But  Greece  and  Latium 
were  lying  like  an  unalterable  fate  across  his  path, 
so  that  there  was  nothing  to  do  or  even  to  think 
about. 

On  the  day  of  his  departure,  the  pockets  of  his 
new  clothes,  which  were  made  out  of  the  captain's 


CHAPTER  VIII  153 

old  ones,  were  a  complete  depository  for  secret  de- 
spatches. 

First,  a  long  letter  of  fourteen  pages,  written 
in  the  night,  blotted  with  tears,  from  Thinka  to  In- 
ger-Johanna,  in  which  with  full  details  she  gave 
the  origin,  continuation,  and  hopeless  development 
of  her  love  for  Aas.  She  had  three  keepsakes  from 
him — a  little  breastpin,  the  cologne  bottle  which 
he  had  given  her  on  the  Christmas  tree,  and  then 
his  letter  to  her  with  a  lock  of  his  hair  on  the 
morning  he  had  to  leave  the  office.  And  even  if  she 
could  not  now  act  against  the  wishes  of  her  parents, 
but  would  rather  make  herselfunhappy,  still  she  had 
promised  herself  faithfully  never  to  forget  him,  to 
think  of  him  till  the  last  hour. 

The  second  despatch  was  from  Ma  to  Aunt 
Alette,  and  contained  —  besides  some  economical 
propositions  —  a  little  suggestion  about  sounding 
Inger-Johanna  when  Captain  Ronnow  returned 
from  Paris.  Ma  could  not  quite  understand  her  this 
last  time. 

The  captain  had  never  imagined  that  there  would 
be  such  a  vacuum  after  Jorgen  was  gone.  In  his 
way  he  had  been  the  occasion  of  so  much  mental 
excitement,  so  many  exertions  and  anxieties,  and 
so  much  heightened  furious  circulation  of  blood, 
that  now  he  was  away  the  captain  had  lost  quite  a 
stimulating  influence.  He  had  now  no  longer  any 


154  THE  FAMILY  AT  GILJE 

one  to  look  after  and  supervise  with  eyes  in  the 
back  of  his  head,  to  exercise  his  acuteness  on,  or 
take  by  surprise — only  the  quiet,  unassailable  Thea 
to  keep  school  with. 

The  doctor  prescribed  a  blood-purifying  dande- 
lion tonic  for  him. 

And  now  when  the  spring  came — dazzling  light, 
^gleaming  water  everywhere,  with  melting  patches 
of  snow  and  its  vanguards  of  red  stone  broken  on 
the  steep  mountain  sides  —  Thinka,  with  a  case- 
knife  in  her  numb  hands,  was  out  in  the  meadow 
gathering  dandelion  roots.  They  were  small,  young, 
and  still  tender,  but  they  were  becoming  stronger 
day  by  day. 

The  captain,  with  military  punctuality,  at  seven 
o'clock  every  morning  emptied  the  cup  prepared 
for  him  and  stormed  out. 

To-day  a  fierce,  boisterous,  icy  cold  blast  of  rain 
with  hail  and  snow  met  him  at  the  outer  door  and 
blew  far  in  on  the  floor.  The  sides  of  the  mountains 
were  white  again. 

These  last  mornings  he  was  accustomed  to  run 
down  over  the  newly  broken-up  potato  field,  which 
was  being  ploughed;  but  in  this  weather — 

"We  must  give  up  the  field  work,  Ola,"  he 
announced  as  his  resolution  in  the  yard  —  "it  looks 
as  if  the  nags  would  rather  have  to  go  out  with  the 
snow-plough." 

He  trudged  away;  it  was  not  weather  to  stand 


CHAPTER  VIII  155 

still  in.  The  rain  drove  and  pounded  in  showers 
down  over  the  windows  in  the  sitting-room  with 
great  ponds  of  water,  so  that  it  must  be  continually 
mopped  up  and  cloths  placed  on  the  window-seats. 

Ma  and  Thinka  stood  there  in  the  gray  daylight 
over  the  fruit  of  their  common  work  at  the  loom 
this  winter  —  a  roller  with  still  unbleached  linen, 
which  they  measured  out  into  tablecloths  and  nap- 
kins. 

The  door  opened  wide,  and  the  captain's  stout 
form  appeared,  enveloped  in  a  dripping  overcoat. 

"I  met  a  stranger  down  here  with  something 
for  you,  Thinka — wrapped  up  in  oil-cloth.  Can 
you  guess  whom  it  is  from?" 

Thinka  dropped  the  linen,  and  blushing  red  ad- 
vanced a  step  towards  him,  but  immediately  shook 
her  head. 

"  Rejers tad,  that  execution-horse,  had  it  with  him 
on  his  trip  up.  He  was  to  leave  it  here."  The  cap- 
tain stood  inspecting  the  package.  "The  sheriff's 
seal  —  Bring  me  the  scissors." 

In  his  officiousness,  he  did  not  give  himself  time 
to  take  his  coat  off. 

"A  para-sol!  —  A  beautiful  — new  —  "  Thinka 
burst  out.  She  remained  standing  and  gazing  at  it. 

"See  the  old — Hanged  if  the  sheriff  is  n't  mak- 
ing up  to  you,  Thinka." 

"Don't  you  see  that  here  is  'philopena'  on  the 
seal,  Jager?"  Ma  put  in,  to  afford  a  cover. 


156  THE  FAMILY  AT  GILJE 

"I  won  a  philopena  from  him — on  New  Year's 
Day,  when  fatherandltookdinnerat  Pastor  Horn's 
—  after  church.  I  had  entirely  forgotten  it,"  she 
said  in  a  husky  tone.  Her  eyes  glanced  from  the 
floor  halfway  up  to  her  parents,  as  she  quietly 
went  out,  leaving  the  parasol  lying  on  the  table. 

"  I  guess  you  will  use  your  linen  for  a  wedding 
outfit,  Ma,"  said  the  captain,  slapping  his  hands  and 
swinging  his  hat  with  a  flourish.  "  What  would  you 
say  to  the  sheriff^  for  a  son-in-law  here  at  Gilje?" 

"You  saw  that  Thinka  went  out,  Jager."  Ma's 
voice  trembled  a  little.  "  Very  likely  she  is  think- 
ing that  it  is  not  long  since  his  wife  was  laid  in  the 
grave.  Thinka  is  very  good,  and  would  like  to  sub- 
mit to  us ;  but  there  may  be  limits  to  what  we  can 
ask."  There  was  something  precipitate  in  her  move- 
ments over  the  linen,  which  indicated  internal  dis- 
turbance. 

"The  sheriff.  Ma;  is  not  he  a  catch.''  Fine,  hand- 
some man  in  his  best  years.  Faith,  I  don't  know 
whatyou  women  will  have.  And,Gitta,"he  reminded 
her,  a  little  moved,  "it  is  just  the  men  who  have 
lived  most  happily  in  their  first  marriage  who  marry 
again  the  soonest." 

Time  flew  with  tearing  haste  towards  St.  John's 
Day.  Spring  was  brewing  in  the  air  and  over  the 
lakes.  The  meadow  stood  moist  and  damp,  hillock 
on  hillock,  like  the  luxuriant  forelocks  of  horses. 
The  swollen  brooks  sighed  and  roared  with  freshly 


CHAPTER  VIII  157 

shining  banks.  They  boiled  over,  as  it  were,  with 
the  power  of  the  same  generating  Hfe  and  sap  that 
made  the  buds  burst  in  alder,  willow,  and  birch  al- 
most audibly,  and  shows  its  nature  in  the  bounc- 
ing, vigorous  movements  of  the  mountain  boy,  in 
his  rapid  speech,  his  lively,  shining  eyes,  and  his 
elastic  walk. 

At  the  beginning  of  summer  a  letter  came  from 
Inger-Johanna,  the  contents  of  which  set  the  cap- 
tain's thoughts  into  a  new  flight: 

June  14,  1843 
Dear  Parents, — At  last  a  little  breath  to  write 
to  you.  Captain  Ronnow  went  away  yesterday,  and 
I  have  as  yet  hardly  recovered  my  balance  from 
the  two  or  three  weeks  of  uninterrupted  sociability 
while  he  was  here. 

It  will  be  pleasant  to  get  out  to  Tilderod  next 
week  on  top  of  all  this.  It  is  beginning  to  be  hot 
and  oppressive  here  in  the  city. 

There  did  not  pass  a  day  that  we  were  not  at 
a  party,  either  at  dinner  or  in  the  evening;  but  the 
pearl  of  them  was  aunt's  own  little  dinners,  which 
she  has  a  reputation  for,  and  at  which  we  spoke 
only  French.  The  conversation  ran  on  so  easily, one 
expresses  one's  self  so  differentlv,  and  our  thoughts 
capture  each  other's  already  half  guessed.  Ronnow 
certainly  speaks  French  brilliantly. 

A  man  who  carries  himself  as  he  does  makes  a 


158  THE  FAMILY  AT  GILJE 

certain  noble,  masterly  impression ;  you  are  trans- 
ported into  an  atmosphere  of  chivalric  manly  dig- 
nity, and  hear  the  spurs  jingle,  I  had  almost  said 
musically;  you  almost  forget  that  there  are  those 
who  stamp  their  feet. 

When  I  compare  the  awkward  compliments  at 
balls,  which  may  come  smack  in  your  face,  with 
Captain  Ronnow's  manner  of  saying  and  not  say- 
ing and  yet  getting  a  thing  in,  then  I  do  not  deny 
that  I  get  the  feeling  of  a  kind  of  exhilarating  plea- 
sure. He  claimed  that  he  had  such  an  illusion  from 
sitting  opposite  me  at  the  table.  I  resembled  so 
much  a  portrait  of  a  historic  lady  which  he  had  seen 
at  the  Louvre;  naturally  she  had  black  hair  and 
carried  her  neck  haughtily  and  looked  before  her, 
smiling,  with  an  expression  which  might  have  been 
characterized,  "I  wait — and  reject — till  he  comes, 
who  can  put  me  in  my  right  place." 

Well,  if  it  amuses  him  to  think  of  such  things, 
then  I  am  happy  to  receive  the  compliments.  It  is 
true  there  are  such  godfathers  and  uncles  who  are 
utterly  infatuated  with  their  goddaughters,  and  spoil 
them  with  nonsense  and  sweets.  I  am  afraid  that 
Ronnow  is  a  little  inclined  to  this  so  far  as  I  am 
concerned,  for,  sensible  and  straightforward  as  he 
always  is,  he  continually  launches  out  into  super- 
latives in  relation  to  me;  and  I  really  cannot  help 
thinking  that  it  is  both  flattering  and  pleasant  when 
he  is  continually  saying  that  I  am  made  for  pre- 


CHAPTER  VIII  159 

siding  where  ladies  and  gentlemen  of  the  higher 
circles  are  received.  He  really  must  think  more 
of  me  than  I  deserve,  because  he  sees  that  I  am 
perhaps  a  little  more  open  and  direct  than  others, 
and  have  no  natural  gift  at  concealing  what  I  mean, 
when  I  am  in  society. 

Yes,  yes,  that  is  the  thanks  you  get  because  you 
have  continually  spoiled  me;  in  any  case,  I  do  not 
immediately  creep  under  a  chair,  but  try  to  sit  where 
I  am  sitting  as  long  as  possible. 

But,  now,  why  hasn't  such  a  man  married?  If 
he  had  been  younger,  and  I  just  a  little  vainer,  he 
might  almost  have  been  dangerous.  He  still  has  fine 
black  hair — a  little  thin,  and  perhaps  he  takes  a 
little  too  much  pains  with  it.  There  is  one  thing  I 
cannot  understand,  and  that  is  why  people  try  to 
conceal  their  age. 

The  captain  gave  a  poke  at  his  wig:  "When  one 
goes  a-courting,  Ma,"  he  said,  smiling. 

Two  mail  days  later  he  came  home  from  the  post- 
office  with  a  long  letter  from  Aunt  Alette  to  Ma. 
She  was  not  a  favorite  of  his.  In  the  first  place  she 
was  too  "well  read  and  cultured;"  in  the  second 
place  she  was  "  sweet;"  lastly,  she  was  an  old  maid. 
He  seated  himself  in  an  armchair,  with  his  arms 
folded  before  him,  to  have  it  read  to  him.  He  plainly 
regarded  it  as  a  bitter  document. 


i6o  THE  FAMILY  AT  GILJE 

My  dear  Gitta, —  It  is  no  easy  task,  but  really  a 
rather  complicated  and  difficult  one,  you  have  laid 
upon  the  shoulders  of  an  old  maid,  even  if  she  is 
your  never  failing,  faithful  Aunt  Alette.  If  we  could 
only  have  talked  together,  you  would  have  soon 
guessed  my  meaning;  but  now  there  is  no  other  way 
for  me  to  free  my  conscience  than  to  write  and  write, 
till  it  has  all  come  out  that  I  have  on  my  mind. 

Now  you  know  well  enough  that  the  governor's 
wife  is  not  in  my  line,  and  if  it  had  not  been  for 
what  you  wrote  me  when  you  sent  Inger-Johanna 
here,  I  certainly  should  not  have  moved  my  old 
limbs  so  far  out  of  the  old  town  where  I  have  my 
circle  of  firm  friends,  and  gone  in  to  make  formal 
calls  at  the  governor's,  notwithstanding  she  is  al- 
ways excessively  friendly  and  means  it,  too,  I  dare 
say. 

First  and  foremost,  I  must  tell  you  that  Inger- 
Johanna  is  a  lady  in  every  respect,  but  still  with 
more  substance  to  her,  if  I  may  express  myself  so,  and 
stronger  will  than  our  poor  Eleonore.  It  is  certain 
that  she  in  many  ways  overawes,  not  to  say  domi- 
neers over,  your  sister-in-law,  strict  and  domi- 
neering as  she  otherwise  has  the  reputation  of  being. 
And,  therefore,  she  must  resort  to  underhand  means 
in  many  things,  when  she  finds  that  it  won't  do  to 
play  the  game  openly  before  Inger-Johanna,  which, 
according  to  my  best  convictions,  has  been  the  case 
with  regard  to  the  captain.  He  certainly  came  here 


CHAPTER  VIII  i6i 

this  time  from  his  trip  to  Paris  with  the  full  intent 
of  completing  his  courting,  after,  like  a  wise  and 
prudent  general,  having  first  surveyed  the  ground 
with  his  own  eyes.  Simply  the  manner  in  which  he 
always  addressed  and  paid  his  respects  to  her  would 
have  convinced  a  blind  person  of  that. 

The  only  one,  however,  who  does  not  under- 
stand it,  notwithstanding  she  is  besieged  in  a  thou- 
sand ways,  is  the  object  of  his  attentions  herself. 
She  sits  there  in  the  midst  of  the  incense,  truly  pro- 
tected against  the  shrewdness  of  the  whole  world  by 
her  natural  innocence,  which  is  doubly  surprising, 
and,  old  Aunt  Alette  says,  to  be  admired  in  her  who 
is  so  remarkably  clever. 

I  will  not,  indeed,  absolve  her  from  being  a  little 
giddy  at  all  the  incense  which  he  and  your  sister-in- 
law  incessantly  burn  before  her  (and  what  elderly, 
experienced  person  would  not  tolerate  and  forgive 
this  in  a  young  girl!)  But  the  giddiness  does  not 
tend  to  the  desired  result,  namely,  the  falling  in 
love,  but  only  makes  her  a  little  puffed  up  in  her 
feeling  of  being  a  perfect  lady,  and  is  limited  to 
her  doing  homage  to  him  as  the  knightly  cavalier 
and — her  father's  highly  honored  friend. 

It  is  this,  which  he,  so  to  speak,  is  for  the 
present  beaten  back  by,  so  he  is  going  abroad  again, 
and  this  evidently  after  consultation  with  your  sister- 
in-law.  Inger-Johanna,  if  my  old  eyes  do  not  de- 
ceive me, —  and  something  we  two  have  seen  and 


i62  THE  FAMILY  AT  GILJE 

experienced,  both  separately  and  together,  in  this 
world,  dear  Gitta, — is  not  found  ready  for  the  mat- 
rimonial question,  inasmuch  as  her  vanity  and  pride 
have  hitherto  appeared  as  a  feeling  entirely  isolated 
from  this. 

There  was  a  snore  from  the  leather-covered  chair, 
and  Ma  continued,  more  softly : 

She  may,  indeed,  and  that  tolerably  earnestly, 
wish  to  rule  over  a  fine  salon;  but  she  has  not  yet 
been  brought  clearly  to  comprehend  that  with  it  she 
must  take  the  man  who  owns  it.  There  is  some- 
thing in  her  open  nature  which  always  keeps  the 
distance  between  these  two  questions  too  wide  for 
even  a  captain  of  cavalry  to  leap  over  it.  God  bless 
her! 

Love  is  like  an  awakening,  without  which  we 
neither  know  nor  understand  anything  of  its  holy 
language;  and  unhappy  are  they  who  learn  to  know 
it  too  late,  when  they  have  imprisoned  themselves 
in  the  so-called  bonds  of  duty.  I  am  almost  abso- 
lutely sure  that  love  has  not  yet  been  awakened  in 
Inger-Johanna — may  a  good  angel  protect  her! 

"Ouf! — such  old  maids,"  said  the  captain,  wak- 
ing up.  "Go  on,  go  on  —  is  there  any  more.''" 

How  far  the  young  student  who  has  a  position  in 


CHAPTER  VIII  163 

the  office  is  in  any  degree  a  hindrance  to  these  plans, 
I  don't  dare  to  say,  either  pro  or  con.  But  the 
governor's  wife  thinks  or  fears  something,  I  am 
firmly  convinced  from  her  whole  manner  of  treating 
him  lately,  although  she  is  far  too  bright  to  letlnger- 
Johanna  get  even  the  slightest  suspicion  of  her  real 
reason. 

I  heard  it  plainly  when  I  took  coffee  there  on 
Sunday,  before  they  went  away  to  Tilderod,  and 
she  had  the  maid  tell  him  that  she  could  not  see 
him.  There  was  a  not  very  gracious  allusion  to  his 
"Sunday  professorship  of  pettifogging  ideas,"  as 
she  called  it. 

I  suppose  these  must  be  something  of  the  same 
sort  of  ideas  that  I  was  enthusiastic  about  when  I 
was  young  and  read  Rousseau's  Emile,  which  ab- 
sorbed me  very  much,  nay,  which  can  yet  occupy 
some  of  my  thoughts.  For  she  stated,  as  one  of  his 
leading  ideas,  that  he,  in  his  headlong  blindness, 
thought  that  he  could  simplify  the  world,  and  first 
and  foremost  education,  to  a  very  few  natural  pro- 
positions or  so-called  principles.  And  you  know,  we 
—  still,  that  is  going  to  be  quite  too  long.  To  be 
brief,  when  Inger-Johanna  with  impetuosity  rushed 
to  the  defence  of  Grip,  she  saw  in  him  only  the  son 
of  the  idiotic  "cadet  at  Lurleiken,"  as  he  is  called, 
one  of  the  well-known,  amusing  figures  of  the  coun- 
try; but  this  one,  in  addition  to  his  father's  dis- 
tracted ideas,  was  also  equipped  with  a  faculty  of 


1 64       '       THE  FAMILY  AT  GILJE 

using  that  fearful  weapon,  satire  —  voila  the  phan- 
tom Grip! 

Youthful  student  ideas  could  perhaps  be  used 
gracefully  enough  as  piquant  topics  of  conversation ; 
but  instead  of  that,  to  set  them  in  motion  in  a  head- 
long and  sensational  manner,  without  regard  to  the 
opinion  of  older  people,  was  a  great  step,  was  pre- 
tentious, and  showed  something  immature,  some- 
thing raw,  which  by  no  means  ought  to  be  relished. 

I  have  reported  this  so  much  at  length  in  order 
to  show  you  by  the  very  expressions  that  there  may 
be  here  a  "good  deal  of  cotton  in  the  linen,"  as  the 
saying  is. 

And  since  I  am  going  to  bring  my  innermost 
heart  to  light,  I  shall  have  to  tell  you  that  he  ap- 
pears to  me  to  be  a  trustworthy,  truthful  youngman, 
whose  natural  disposition  is  as  he  speaks  and  not 
otherwise,  and  he  carries  a  beautiful  stamp  on  his 
countenance  and  in  his  whole  bearing.  If  possibly 
he  is  a  little  forgetful  of  "My  son,  if  you  want  to 
get  on  in  the  world,  then  bow,"  that  is  worst  for 
him  and  not  to  his  dishonor,  we  know. 

It  was  also  a  truly  refreshing  enjoyment  for  me, 
as  if  looking  into  the  kingdom  of  youth,  awakening 
many  thoughts,  to  talk  with  him,  the  two  evenings 
this  winter  when  he  accompanied  me,  an  old  woman, 
home  from  the  governor's  (for  him,  I  have  no  doubt, 
a  very  small  pleasure),  all  the  way  out  to  the  old 


CHAPTER  VIII  165 

town,  when  otherwise  I  should  have  been  obHged 
to  go  anxiously  with  my  servant-girl  and  a  lantern. 

"Bah!  nobody  will  attack  her,"  growled  the  cap- 
tain, bored. 


Chapter  IX 

THE  captain  had  had  a  genuine  drive  in  the 
service  ever  since  summer,  when  he  and  the 
heutenant  inspected  the  storehouse  for  the  tents, 
together  with  the  arsenal  and  the  guns  in  the  levy- 
ing districts.  Then  the  military  exercises,  and  finally 
now  the  meeting  of  the  commissioners  of  conscrip- 
tion. There  had  been  tolerably  lively  goings-on  at 
the  inn  in  the  principal  parish  the  last  two  or  three 
evenings  with  the  army  doctor,  the  solicitor  Sebe- 
low,  tall  Buchholtz,  Dorff  the  sheriff's  officer,  and 
the  lieutenants. 

But  the  result  was  splendid  in  so  far  that,  instead 
of  the  bay  horse,  he  was  now  driving  home  with 
a  fine  three  or  four-year-old  before  the  cariole,  with 
a  white  star  on  the  forehead  and  white  stockings 
that  almost  promised  to  be  a  match  for  Svarten  if — 
if — it  were  not  a  bolter. 

It  had  just  now,  when  the  old  beggar  woman  rose 
up  from  the  ditch  by  the  wayside,  shown  something 
in  the  eyes  and  ears  which  it  certainly  had  concealed 
during  all  the  three  days  of  the  session.  He  had  at 
last  even  shot  over  its  head  to  test  it,  without  so 
much  as  the  horse  giving  a  start. 

It  would  be  too  mean,  after  the  doctor  and  First 
Lieutenant  Dunsack  had  been  unanimous  in  the 
same  opinion  as  he  about  the  beast,  and  he,  besides. 


CHAPTER  IX  167 

had  given  the  horse-dealer  twenty-five  dollars  to 
boot. 

But  now  it  trotted  off  with  the  cariole  very  stead- 
ily and  finely.  The  little  inclination  to  break  into  a 
canter  was  only  unmannerliness  and  a  little  of  colt- 
ish bad  habits  which  stuck  to  it  still,  and  would 
disappear  by  driving. 

Great-Ola  had  not  had  a  steadier  horse  in  the  stall 
by  the  side  of  Svarten,  nevertheless — "You  shall 
grow  old  in  my  barn;  do  you  understand,  you 
young  Svarten?  shall  go  to  the  city  in  pairs  with 
your  uncle — before  the  carriage  for  Inger — There 
now,  you  beast — of  a — dog" — swip — swish — 
swip  —  swish — "I  shall  teach  you  to  drop  your 
bad  habits, I  shall.  Whoa!"  he  thundered.  "There! 
there!" 

There  was  a  whole  train  of  gay  fellows  who  were 
standing,  talking,  shouting,  and  drinking  in  the  road 
outside  the  gate  to  the  Bergset  farm. 

At  the  sight  of  the  captain's  well-known  form 
they  made  way  for  him,  greeting  him  politely.  They 
knew  that  he  had  been  far  away,  and  the  men  who 
had  gone  to  the  mustering  had  just  returned  to  the 
farms  round  about,  yesterday  and  to-day. 

"Fine,  is  n't  he,  Halvor  Hejen?  a  lively  colt — 
still,  rather  young." 

"  Maybe,  captain.  Fine,  if  he  is  n't  skittish,"  re- 
plied the  one  spoken  to. 


i68  THE  FAMILY  AT  GILJE 

"  What  is  going  on  here — auction  after  Ole  Berg- 
set?" 

"Yes;  Bardon,  the  bailiff,  is  busy  with  the  ham- 
mer in  the  room  in  there." 

"So,  so,  Solfest  Staale!"  he  said,  winking  to 
a  young  man,  "do  you  beHeve  there  is  anything 
in  the  story  that  Lars  Overstadsbraekken  is  court- 
ing the  widow  here?  Their  lands  lie  very  fine." 

There  came  an  ill-concealed  amusement  on  the 
countenances  of  those  standing  about.  They  guessed 
what  the  captain  was  at.  It  was  the  rival  he  was 
speaking  to. 

"  There  is  not  any  cow  for  sale  that  is  going  to 
calve  in  the  fall,  I  suppose?" 

There  might  be,  they  thought. 

"Hold  my  horse  a  little  while,  Halvor,  while  I 
go  and  talk  a  little  with  the  bailiff  about  it." 

There  was  a  crowdof  people  in  the  house,and  the 
captain  was  greeted  by  one  knot  after  another  of 
noisy  talking  folk,  men  and  women,  girls  and  boys, 
among  whom  the  brandy  bottle  was  diligently  cir- 
culating, until  he  got  into  the  room  where  the  sale 
was  going  on. 

There  sat  Bardon  in  the  crowded,  steaming  room, 
calling  over  and  over  again,  with  his  well-known, 
strong,  husky  voice,  threatening  with  the  ham- 
mer, giving  utterance  to  a  joke,  finally  threaten- 
ing for  the  last,  last  time,  until  with  the  law's  blows 
he  nailed  the  bid  firmly  forever  down  on  the  top 


CHAPTER  IX  169 

of  the  table.  They  made  way  for  the  captain  as  he 
came. 

"Are  you  also  so  crazy  as  to  allow  your  wife  to 
go  to  the  auction,  Martin  Kvale?"  he  said,  joking, 
to  an  important  fellow  with  silver  buttons  on  his 
coat,  as  he  passed  by. 

Out  in  the  hall  stood  the  handsome  Guro  Gran- 
lien  with  a  crowd  of  other  young  girls. 

"Oh,  Guro!"  he  said,  chucking  her  under  the 
chin,  "  now  Bersvend  Vaage  has  come  home  from 
the  drill.  He  was  in  a  brown  study  and  wholly  lost 
his  wits,  the  fellow,  and  so  I  came  near  putting  him 
in  arrest:  you  are  too  hard  on  him,  Guro."  He 
nodded  to  the  snickering  girls. 

Guro  looked  with  great,  staring  eyes  at  the  cap- 
tain. How  could  he  know  that? 

The  captain  knew  the  district  in  and  out,  for- 
wards and  backwards,  as  he  expressed  it.  He  had 
an  inconceivably  keen  scent  for  contemplated  farm 
trades,  weddings,  betrothals,  and  anything  of  the 
kind  that  concerned  the  young  conscripts.  Guro 
Granlien  was  not  the  first  girl  who  opened  her  eyes 
wide  on  that  account.  He  got  a  great  deal  out  of  his 
five  subalterns,  but  by  no  means  the  least  was  to 
be  found  in  his  own  always  alert  interest  in  these 
things. 

And  when,  to-day,  he  made  the  little  turn  up 
to  the  place  of  auction,  the  reason  was  far  less  the 
"autumn  cow,"  than  his  lively  curiosity  for  the  new 


lyo  THE  FAMILY  AT  GILJE 

things  that  might  have  happened  during  his  long 
absence. 

Therefore  it  was  not  at  all  unwelcome  to  him 
when  the  widow  came  out  and  invited  him  into  the 
"other  room,"  where  he  must  at  least  have  a  drop 
of  ale  before  he  left  the  farm. 

He  was  curious  to  get  her  on  the  confessional  as 
to  the  possibility  of  a  new  marriage,  and  also  had 
the  satisfaction,  after  a  half  hour's  confidential  chat, 
of  having  won  from  her  confidence  the  whole  of 
the  real  and  true  condition  of  her  thoughts  about 
herself  and  the  farm. 

No  one  cheated  him  any  longer  about  that  affair, 
—  the  widow  of  Bergset  was  to  retain  undivided 
possession  of  the  estate  of  the  deceased  and  —  not 
marry.  But  she  was  anxious  not  to  let  it  come  out; 
she  wanted  to  be  courted,  of  course — as  a  good 
match  in  the  district,  naturally. 

The  captain  understood  it  very  well :  it  was  sly. 

Something  must  also  be  said  about  something 
else  at  last,  and  so  Randi,  in  the  spirit  of  what  had 
been  said,  added:  "And  the  sheriff,  who  is  going  to 
marry  again." 

"So?" 

"They  say  he  is  a  constant  visitor  at  the  house 
of  Scharfenberg,  the  solicitor.  Very  likely  it  is  the 
youngest  daughter,  eh?" 

"Don't  know.  Good-by,  Randi." 

He  went  quickly,  so  that  his  spurs  rattled,  and 


CHAPTER  IX  171 

his  sabre  flapped  under  his  coat,  down  to  his  horse 
without  looking  to  the  right  or  left  or  speaking  to 
any  one.  He  pressed  his  shako  more  firmly  down 
on  his  forehead  before  he  got  into  the  cariole, 

"Thanks,  Halvor.  Give  me  the  reins.  There 
you  —  " 

He  gave  young  Svarten,  who  began  with  some 
capers,  a  taste  of  the  whip,  and  off  he  went  with 
tight  reins  at  full  trot,  so  that  the  fence-posts  flew 
like  drumsticks  past  his  eyes. 

In  the  quiet,  hazy  autumn  day  the  cattle  here 
and  there  were  out  on  the  highway. 

A  pig  provoked  hiin  by  obstinately  running  be- 
fore the  cariole. 

"There,  take  care  to  get  your  stumps  out  of  the 
way! 

It  ended  with  a  little  cut  on  its  back. 

"See  there!  there  is  a  beast  of  a  cow  lying  in  the 
middle  of  the  road,"  he  broke  out,  with  his  lips 
firmly  pressed  together. 

"Well,  if  you  won't  get  up,  then  you  are  wel- 
come to  stay!  If  you  please  —  I  am  stupid  also  — 
I  '11  drive  on." 

His  bitterness  took  full  possession  of  him,  and 
he  would  have  firmly  allowed  the  wheel  to  go  over 
the  animal's  back  if  the  latter  had  not  risen  up 
quickly  at  the  last  moment,  so  near  that  the  cap- 
tain's cariole  was  half  raised  up,  while  it  grazed  and 
was  within  an  ace  of  being  upset. 


172  THE  FAMILY  AT  GILJE 

"Hm,  hm,"  he  mumbled,  somewhat  brought 
to  his  senses  as  he  looked  back  upon  the  object  of 
his  missed  revenge. 

"So,  so  —  off,  I  say,  you  black  knacker — if  you 
once  peep  back  again  in  that  way,  I  will  kill  you !  Ha, 
ha,  ha !  If  you  run,  you  will  still  find  a  hill,  my  good 
friend." 

He  had  had  a  tremendous  headache  all  day; 
but  it  was  not  that  which  annoyed  him — that  he 
knew. 

And  when  he  came  home,  where  they  were  ex- 
pecting father  to-day  in  great  suspense  after  his  long 
absence,  his  looks  were  dark. 

"There, Ola!  Curry  the  horse — dry  him  with  a 
wisp  of  straw  first — take  good  care  of  him —  put  a 
blanket  on  his  back ;  do  you  hear  ?  I  only  drove  the 
fellow  a  little  up  the  hill." 

Great-Ola  looked  at  the  captain  and  nodded  his 
head  confidently,  as  he  led  the  horse  and  carriage 
away  from  the  steps;  there  was  surely  something 
the  matter;  the  captain  had  got  cheated  again  with 
this  new  nag. 

"  Good  day,  Ma — good  day ! "  and  he  kissed  her 
hastily.  "Yes,  I  am  quite  well." 

He  took  off  his  cloak  and  shako.  "Oh,  can't  you 
let  Marit  take  the  trunk  and  the  travelling-bag  so 
that  they  need  n't  stand  there  on  the  steps  any 
longer?  —  Oh,  yes;  it  has  been  tiresome  enough," 
as  he  evaded   rather  coldly  Thinka's  attentions. 


CHAPTER  IX  173 

"  Put  the  sabre  on  the  peg,  and  carry  the  bag  up  to 
my  chamber." 

He  himself  went  first  up  to  the  office  to  look  at 
the  mail,  and  then  down  to  the  stable  to  see  how 
Great-Ola  had  treated  Svarten. 

There  was  something  the  matter  with  father;  that 
was  clear! 

Ma's  face,  anxiously  disturbed,  followed  him  here 
and  there  in  the  doorways,  and  Thinka  glided  in 
and  out  without  breaking  the  silence. 

When  he  came  in,  the  supper-table  was  spread 

—  herring  salad,  decorated  with  red  beets  and  slices 
of  hard  boiled  eggs,  and  a  glass  of  brandy  by  the 
side  of  it — and  then  half  salted  trout  and  a  good 
bottle  of  beer. 

Father  was  possibly  not  quite  insensible,  but  ex- 
tremely reticent.  You  could  absolutely  get  only 
words  of  one  syllable  in  answer  to  the  most  ingen- 
iously conceived  questions!  ) 

"The  sheriff  is  going  to  marry  again,  they  say;  it 
is  absolutely  certain!"  he  let  fall  at  last,  as  the  first 
agreeable  news  he  knew  from  the  outer  world; 
"  Scharfenberg's  youngest." 

The  remark  was  followed  by  deep  silence,  even 
if  a  gleam  of  perfect  contentment  glided  over 
Thinka's  face,  and  she  busied  herself  with  eating. 
They  both  felt  that  his  ill-humor  came  from  this. 

"That  man  can  say  he  is  lucky  with  his  daughters 

—  Bine  soon  in  a  parsonage,  and  now  Andrea  the 


174  THE  FAMILY  AT  GILJE 

sheriff's  wife !  Perhaps  you  can  get  a  position  there, 
Thinka,  when  you  need  it  some  day,  as  governess 
for  the  children,  or  housekeeper;  she  won't  be 
obHged  to  do  more  in  the  house  than  just  what  she 
pleases;  she  can  afford  it." 

Thinka,  blushing  to  the  roots  of  her  hair,  kept 
her  eyes  on  her  plate. 

"Yes,  yes.  Ma,  as  you  make  your  bed  you  must 
lie  in  it  in  this  world." 

No  more  was  said  before  Thinka  cleared  off  the 
table,  when  Ma  apologetically  exclaimed,  "Poor 
Thinka!" 

The  captain  wheeled  towards  her  on  the  floor 
with  his  fingers  in  the  armholes  of  his  vest  and 
bhnked  indignantly  at  her. 

"Do  you  know!  After  the  parasol  and  the  one 
attention  after  another  which  he  has  taken  the  pains 
to  show  all  summer,  if  she  could  have  given  the  man 
a  bit  of  thanks  and  friendliness  other  than  she  has  — 
It  would  not  have  gone  so  at  all,  if  I  had  been  at 
home!"  —  his  voice  rose  to  something  like  a  peal 
of  thunder — "  But  I  think  it  is  a  flock  of  geese  that 
I  have  here  in  the  house,  and  not  grown-up  women 
who  look  out  a  little  for  themselves.  Andrea  Scharf- 
enberg  did  n't  let  herself  be  asked  twice,  not  she!" 
he  said,  walking  out  again  when  Thinka  came  in; 
he  did  not  care  if  she  did  hear  it. 

Ma  gazed  somewhat  thoughtfully  at  him,  and  in  the 


CHAPTER  IX  175 

days  that  followed,  they  petted  and  coddled  father 
in  every  way  to  make  him  a  little  more  cheerful. 
Thinka,  in  the  midst  of  her  quiet  carefulness,  cast 
her  eyes  down  involuntarily,  when  he  groaned  and 
panted  in  this  way. 

He  did  not  go  out  any  farther  than  to  look  after 
young  Svarten. 

The  horse  had  fever  in  one  hoof  to-day  after 
the  new  shoeing.  It  was  a  nail  which  had  been 
driven  in  too  far  by  that  blockhead  of  a  smith.  It 
must  come  out. 

The  captain  stood  silently  looking  on  in  his 
favorite  position,  with  his  arms  on  the  lower  half 
of  the  stable  door,  while  Great-Ola,  with  the  hind 
leg  of  young  Svarten  over  his  leg,  was  performing 
the  operation  of  extraction  with  the  tongs.  The 
animal  was  good-natured  and  did  not  so  much  as 
move  his  leg. 
•  "O-o-ola,"  came  hoarsely,  half  smothered. 

Great-Ola  looked  up. 

"  Good  Lord ! "  if  the  captain  did  not  sink  slowly 
down,  while  he  still  held  onto  the  stable  door, 
right  on  the  dung! 

Ola  looked  a  moment  irresolutely  at  his  master, 
dropping  the  horse's  foot.  Then  he  took  the  stable 
pail  and  spattered  some  water  into  his  face  until 
he  once  more  manifested  a  little  life  and  con- 
sciousness. 

He  then  held  the  pail  to  his  mouth. 


176  THE  FAMILY  AT  GILJE 

"Drink,  drink.  Captain!  Don't  be  afraid.  It  is 
only  the  result  of  all  that  drilling  and  pleasuring. 
It  is  just  as  it  is  when  one  has  kept  up  a  wedding 
festivity  too  long.  My  brother  — " 

"Help  me  out,  Ola!  There,  let  me  lean  on 
you — gently,  gently.  Ah,  it  does  one  good  to 
breathe — breathe,"  as  he  stopped.  "Now  it 's  over, 
I  beheve.  Yes,  entirely  over,  nothing  more  than 
a  half  fainting  spell.  Just  go  with  me  a  little  bit, 
Ola,  as  a  matter  of  precaution.  Hm,  hm,  that  goes 
well  enough.  Yes,  yes,  I  have  no  doubt  it  is  the 
irregular  life  the  whole  of  the  autumn.  Go  and  call 
my  wife.  Say  I  am  up  in  the  chamber.  I  can  man- 
age the  stairs  bravely." 

There  was  no  little  fright. 

This  time  it  was  the  captain  who  was  at  ease 
and  turned  it  off,  and  Ma  who  without  authority 
dispatched  a  messenger.  If  the  army  surgeon  was 
not  at  home,  then  he  must  go  to  the  district  doctor. 

When  the  army  surgeon,  Rist,  came,  and  had 
received  at  the  door  Ma's  anxious  explanations 
that  Jager  had  had  a  slight  shock,  for  the  calming  of 
the  house  he  delivered  a  humorous  lecture. 

It  was  wholly  a  question  of  degree.  The  man 
who  drank  only  so  much  that  he  stammered  suf- 
fered from  paralytic  palsy  of  the  tongue — and  in 
this  way  every  blessed  man  that  he  knew  was  a 
paralytic  patient.  This  was  only  a  congestion  not 
uncommon  among  full-blooded  people. 


CHAPTER  IX  177 

Jager  himself  was  in  fact  so  far  over  it  that  he 
demanded  the  toddy  tray  in  the  evening — true 
enough,  only  an  extremely  light  dose  for  his  part! 
But  cock  and  bull  stories  from  the  encampment 
and  about  Svarten  were  told  in  the  clouds  of  smoke, 
and  with  constant  renewals  of  the  thin  essence,  till 
half-past  one  in  the  morning. 

There  was  a  roaring  in  the  stove  on  one  of  the 
following  forenoons,  while  the  captain  sat  in  his 
office  chair,  and  wrote  so  that  his  quill-pen  sput- 
tered. 

As  usual  at  this  time  of  the  year,  after  his  long 
absence,  there  was  a  great  multitude  of  things  to 
be  disposed  of.  Thea's  Norwegian  grammar  was 
lying  on  the  green  table  by  the  door;  she  had  just 
finished  reading,  and  was  heard  humming  outside 
in  the  hall. 

There  was  a  noise  on  the  stairs,  and  Ma  show- 
ing some  one  the  way  up,  "That  way  —  to  the 
captain." 

There  was  a  knocking  at  the  door. 

"Good  day,  my  man!  Well?" 

It  was  an  express  from  the  sheriff— in  Sunday 
dress — with  a  letter.  It  was  to  be  given  to  the 
captain  himself 

"What?  Is  there  to  be  an  answer?  Well,  well! 
Yes,  go  down  to  the  kitchen  and  get  a  little  some- 
thing to  eat  and  a  dram. —  Hm,hm,"  he  mumbled 


lyS  THE  FAMILY  AT  GILJE 

and  threw  the  letter,  written  on  letter-paper  and 
fastened  with  a  seal,  down  on  his  desk,  while  in 
the  mean  time  he  took  a  turn  up  and  down  the 
floor.  "Notice  of  the  betrothal,  I  suppose  —  or 
perhaps  an  invitation  to  the  wedding." 

Opening  it,  he  read  it,  standing  up — eagerly- 
running  it  over  hastily — a  cursed  long  introduc- 
tion!—  Over  that — over  that — quite  to  the  third 
page. 

"Well,  there  it  comes!" 

He  struck  the  back  of  the  hand  in  which  he 
held  the  letter  with  a  resounding  whack  into  the 
other,  and  then  seated  himself — "Yes,  yes,  yes, 
yes,  yes,  yes,  yes!" 

He  snapped  his  fingers,  once,  twice,  three  times, 
in  a  brown  study,  scratched  his  head  behind  his 
ear,  and  then  slyly  up  under  his  wig. 

"Now,  we  shall  see — we  shall  see! — And  that 
nonsense  about  Scharfenberg."  He  rushed  to  the 
door  and  jerked  it  open;  but  bethought  himself 
and  walked  on  tiptoe  to  the  stairs.  "  Who  is  there 
in  the  hall — you,  Thea?" 

The  little  square-built,  brown-eyed  Thea  flew 
up  the  stairs. 

"Tell  Ma  to  come  up,"  he  said,  nodding. 

Thea  looked  up  at  her  father:  there  was  some- 
thing out  of  the  ordinary  about  him. 

When  Ma  came  in,  he  walked  about  with  the 
letter  behind  his  back,  clearing  his  throat.  There 


CHAPTER  IX  179 

was  the  suitable  deliberate  seriousness  about  him 
which  the  situation  demanded. 

"I  have  got  a  letter,  Ma — from  the  sheriff!  — 
Read! — or  shall  I  read?" 

He  stood  leaning  against  the  desk,  and  went 
through  its  three  pages,  period  by  period,  with 
great  moderation,  till  he  came  to  the  point,  then 
he  hurled  it  out  so  that  it  buzzed  in  the  air,  and 
hugged  Ma  wildly. 

"Well,  well! — what  do  you  say.  Ma?  Take  a 
trip  when  we  want  to  go  down  to  our  son-in-law!" 
He  rubbed  his  hands.' "It  was  a  real  surprise, 
Ma,  —  hm,  hm,"  he  began,  again  clearing  his  throat. 
"It  is  best  that  we  ask  Thinka  to  come  up  and 
tell  her  the  contents — don't  you  think?" 

"  Ye-es,"  said  Ma  huskily,  having  turned  to  the 
door;  she  could  see  no  help  or  escape  for  her  any 
more,  poor  girl ! 

The  captain  walked  up  and  down  in  the  office, 
waiting.  He  had  the  high-spirited,  dignified,  pater- 
nal expression  which  is  completely  absorbed  in  the 
importance  of  the  moment. 

But  where  was  she  gone  to? 

She  could  not  be  found.  They  had  hunted  for 
her  over  the  whole  house. 

But  the  captain  was  not  impatient  to-day. 

"Well,  then,  don't  you  see  her?"  he  mildly 
asked  two  or  three  times  through  the  door. 

At  last  Thea  found  her  in  the  garret.  She  had 


i8o  THE  FAMILY  AT  GILJE 

taken  refuge  up  there  and  hid  herself,  when  she 
saw  the  express  and  heard  that  it  was  from  the 
sheriff,  in  anticipation  of  the  contents.  And  now 
she  was  sitting  with  her  head  on  her  arms  and  her 
apron  over  her  head. 

She  had  not  been  crying;  she  had  been  seized 
with  a  sort  of  panic;  she  felt  an  irresistible  impulse 
to  hide  herself  away  somewhere  and  shut  her  eyes, 
so  that  it  would  be  really  dark,  and  she  would  not 
be  obliged  to  think. 

She  looked  a  little  foolish  when  she  went  down 
■  with  Thea  to  her  father  and  mother  in  the  office. 

"Thinka,"  said  the  captain,  when  she  came  in, 
"we  have  received  to-day  from  the  sheriff  an  im- 
portant letter  for  your  future.  I  suppose  it  is  super- 
fluous to  say — after  all  the  attention  you  have  al- 
lowed him  to  show  you  during  the  year — what  it 
is  about,  and  that  your  mother  and  I  regard  it  as 
the  greatest  good  fortune  that  could  fall  to  your  lot, 
and  to  ours  also.  Read  the  letter  and  consider  it 
well.  Sit  down  and  read  it,  child." 

Thinka  read;  but  it  did  not  seem  as  if  she  got 
far;  she  shook  her  head  dumbly  the  whole  time 
without  knowing  it. 

"You  understand  very  well,  it  is  not  any  youth- 
ful love  fancy,  and  any  such  exalted  nonsense  that 
he  asks  of  you.  It  is  if  you  will  fill  an  honored 
position  with  him  that  you  are  asked,  and  if  you 


CHAPTER  IX  i8i 

can  give  the  good  will  and  care  for  him  which  he 
would  naturally  expect  of  a  wife." 

There  was  no  answer  to  be  got,  except  a  weak 
groan  down  into  her  lap. 

The  captain's  face  began  to  grow  solemn. 

But  Ma  whispered,  with  a  blaze  of  lightning  in 
her  eyes,"  You  see  plainly,  she  cannot  think,  Jager. 
—  Don't  you  think  as  I  do,  father,"  she  said  aloud, 
"that  it  is  best  we  let  Thinka  take  the  letter,  so 
that  she  can  consider  it  till  to-morrow?  It  is  such 
a  surprise." 

"Of  course,  if  Thinka  prefers  it,"  came  after 
them,  from  the  captain,  who  was  greatly  offended,  as 
Ma  went  with  her,  shutting  her  up  in  her  chamber. 

She  had  her  cry  out  under  the  down  quilt  dur- 
ing the  whole  afternoon. 

In  the  twilight  Ma  went  up  and  sat  beside  her. 

"No  place  to  turn  to,  you  see,  when  one  will 
not  be  a  poor,  unprovided-for  member  of  a  family. 
Sew,  sew  your  eyes  out  of  your  head,  till  at  last 
you  lie  in  a  corner  of  some  one's  house.  Such  an 
honorable  proposal  would  seem  to  many  people  to 
be  a  great  thing." 

"Aas!  Aas,  mother!"  articulated  'I'hinka  very 
weakly. 

"God  knows,  child,  that  if  I  saw  any  other  way 
out,  I  would  show  it  to  you,  even  if  I  should  have 
to  hold  my  fingers  in  the  fire  in  order  to  do  it." 


i82  THE  FAMILY  AT  GILJE 

Thinka  slipped  her  hand  onto  her  mother's  thin 
hand  and  sobbed  gently  into  her  pillow. 

"Your  father  is  no  longer  very  strong — does 
not  bear  many  mental  excitements,  —  so  that  the 
outlook  is  dark  enough.  The  attack  when  he  came 
home  last — " 

When  Ma  went  out,  sigh  followed  sigh  in  the 
darkness. 

Late  in  the  evening  Ma  sat  and  held  her  daugh- 
ter's head  so  that  she  could  get  some  sleep;  she  was 
continually  starting  up. 

And  now  when  Thinka  finally  slept,  without 
these  sudden  starts  any  longer — quietly  and  peace- 
fully, with  her  fair  young  head  regularly  breathing 
on  the  pillow — Ma  went  out  with  the  candle.  The 
worst  was  over. 

If  the  captain  was  in  an  exalted  mood  after  hav- 
ing seen  from  the  office  window  Aslak,  who  went  as 
express  messenger  to  the  sheriff,  vanishing  through 
the  gate,  then  in  certain  ways  he  was  doubly  set 
up  in  the  kingdom  of  hope  by  a  little  fragment  of 
a  letter  from  Inger-Johanna,  dated  Tilderod: 

We  are  all  in  a  bustle,  packing  up  and  moving 
to  the  city,  therefore  the  letter  will  be  short  this 
time. 

There  have  been  guests  here  to  the  very  last; 
solitude  suits  neither  uncle  nor  aunt,  and  so  they 
had  said  "Welcome  to  Tilderod"  so  often  that  we 


CHAPTER  IX  183 

had  one  long  visit  after  another  all  through  the 
summer — in  perfect  rusticity,  it  was  said.  But  I 
believe  indeed  they  did  not  go  away  again  without 
feeling  that  aunt  preserves  style  in  it.  With  perfect 
freedom  for  every  one,  and  collations  both  in  the 
garden  room  and  on  the  veranda,  there  is,  after  all, 
something  about  it  which  makes  the  guests  feel 
that  they  must  give  something  and  be  at  their  best. 
People  don't  easily  sink  down  to  the  level  of  the 
commonplace  when  aunt  is  present.  She  flatters 
me  that  we  are  alike  in  that  respect. 

And  I  don't  know  how  it  is,  I  feel  now  that  I 
am  almost  as  much  attracted  by  assemblies  as  for- 
merly by  balls.  There  certainly  is  much  more  of  an 
opportunity  to  use  whatever  little  wit  one  has,  and 
they  may  be  a  real  influential  circle  of  usefulness: 
aunt  has  opened  my  eyes  to  that  this  summer. 
When  we  read  of  the  brilliant  French.  sa/onSy  where 
woman  was  the  soul,  we  get  an  impression  that  here 
is  an  entire  province  for  her.  And  to  be  able  to  live 
and  work  in  the  world  has  possessed  me  since  I 
was  little,  and  mourned  so  that  I  was  not  a  boy 
who  could  come  to  be  something. 

I  had  got  so  far,  dear  parents,  when  Miss  Jor- 
gensen  called  me  to  go  down  into  the  garden  to 
aunt.  The  mail  had  come  from  the  ofiice  in  the 
city,  and  on  the  table  in  a  package  lay  a  flat,  red 
morocco  leather  box  and  a  letter  to  me. 

It  was  a  gold  band  to  wear  in  my  hair,  with  a 


i«4  THE  FAMILY  AT  GILJE 

yellow  topaz  in  it,  and  in  the  letter  there  was  only, 
"To  complete  the  portrait.  Ronnow." 

Of  course  aunt  must  try  it  on  me  at  once  —  take 
down  my  hair,  and  call  in  uncle.  Ronnow's  taste 
was  subtly  inspired  when  it  concerned  me,  she  de- 
clared. 

Oh,  yes !  it  is  becoming. 

But  with  the  letter  and  all  the  fantastical  over- 
valuation, there  is  that  which  makes  me  feel  that 
the  gold  band  pinches  my  neck.  Gratitude  is  a  tire- 
some virtue. 

Aunt  lays  so  many  plans  for  our  social  life  next 
winter,  and  is  rejoicing  that  Ronnow  may  possibly 
come  for  another  trip. 

For  my  part  I  must  say  I  don't  really  know;  I 
both  want  it  and  don't  want  it. 


Chapter  X 

THE  more  quickly  and  quietly  the  wedding 
could  be  arranged,  the  better,  said  the  sher- 
iff. It  had  its  advantage  in  getting  ahead  of  expla- 
nations and  gossip.  People  submitted  to  an  accom- 
plished fact. 

The  third  day  of  Christmas  was  just  the  right 
one  to  escape  too  much  sensation;  and  it  suited 
the  sheriff  exactly,  so  that  he  could  enter  upon  his 
new  state  of  household  affairs  with  the  new  year. 

Naturally,  Kathinka  was  asked  about  every  one 
of  these  points ;  and  she  always  found  everything 
that  her  father  thought  right. 

The  decision  that  the  wedding  should  be  ar- 
ranged speedily  and  promptly  was  exactly  after  the 
captain's  own  heart.  On  the  other  point,  on  the 
contrary,  that  everything  should  be  kept  so  quiet 
and  still,  he  was  in  agreement  with  the  sheriff  and 
Ma,  of  course;  but  it  really  did  not  lie  in  his  na- 
ture that  the  whole  joyful  affair  should  take  place 
smothered  with  a  towel  before  his  mouth,  and 
whispering  on  tiptoe,  as  if  it  were  a  sick-room  they 
were  having  at  Gilje  instead  of  a  wedding. 

Some  show  there  must  be  about  it;  that  he  owed 
to  Thinka,  and  to  himself  also  a  little. 

And  thus  it  came  about  that  before  Christmas 
he  took  a  little  sleighing  trip,  when  it  was  good 
going,downto  the  lieutenant's  and  to  the  solicitors, 


i86  THE  FAMILY  AT  GILJE 

Scharfenberg  and  Sebelow,  with  whom  he  had  some 
money  settlements  to  get  adjusted  in  regard  to  the 
map  business  that  had  been  done  in  the  last  two 
suits. 

And  then,  when  he  met  the  report  that  the  banns 
had  been  published  in  church  for  his  daughter  and 
the  sheriff,  he  could  answer  with  a  question  if  they 
would  not  come  and  convince  themselves.  Confi- 
dentially, of  course,  he  invited  no  one  but  the  army 
surgeon  and  those  absolutely  necessary.  "But" — 
winking — "old  fellow,  how  welcome  you  shall  be, 
the  third  day  of  Christmas,  not  the  second  and  not 
the  fourth,  my  boy,  remember  that!" 

And  he  took  care  that  provisions  as  well  as  bat- 
teries of  strong  liquors  should  be  stored  up  inside 
the  ramparts  at  home,  so  the  fortress  could  hold 
its  own. 

On  Christmas  Eve  there  came  a  horse  express 
from  the  sheriff  with  a  sleigh  full  of  packages  — 
nothing  but  presents  and  surprises  for  Thinka. 

First  and  foremost,  his  former  wife's  warm  fur 
cloak  with  squirrel-skin  lining  and  muff",  which  had 
been  made  over  for  Thinka  by  Miss  Brun  in  the 
chief  parish ;  then  her  gold  watch  and  chain  with 
earrings,  and  rings,  all  like  new,  and  burnished  up 
by  the  goldsmith  in  the  city,  and  a  Vienna  shawl, 
and,  lastly,  lavender  water  and  gloves  in  abundance. 

In  the  letter  he  suggested  to  his  devotedly  loved 
Kathinka  that  his  thoughts  were  only  with  her 


CHAPTER  X  187 

until  they  should  soon  be  united  by  a  stronger 
bond,  and  that  she,  when  once  in  her  new  home, 
would  find  several  other  things  which  might  pos- 
sibly please  her,  but  which  it  would  not  be  prac- 
tical to  send  up  to  Gilje,  only  to  bring  them  right 
back  again. 

He  had  not  brought  Baldrian  and  Viggo  home 
for  Christmas — and  in  this  he  hoped  she  would 
agree  with  him;  he  had  sent  them  down  to  his 
brother,  the  minister  at  Holmestrand. 

Never  in  Great-Ola's  time  had  there  been  such 
a  festive  show  in  horses  and  vehicles,  as  when,  on 
the  third  day  of  Christmas,  they  started  down  the 
hill  to  the  annex-church;  the  harnesses  and  bells 
shone,  and  both  the  black  horses  glistened  before 
the  double  sleighs,  as  if  they  had  been  polished  up, 
both  hair  and  mane. 

Under  the  bearskin  robe  in  the  first  sat  the  cap- 
tain in  a  wolf-skin  coat  and  Thinka  adorned  with 
the  chains  and  clothes  of  the  sheriff's  first  wife, 
with  young  Svarten.  In  the  second  Ma  and  Thea, 
with  Great-Ola  on  the  dickey  seat  behind  and  old 
Svarten. 

There  stood  the. subalterns  in  uniform  paying 
their  respects  at  the  church  door;  and  inside,in  the 
pew,  Lieutenants  Dunsack,  Frisak,  Knebelsberger, 
and  Knobelauch  rose  up  in  full  uniform.  So  the 
sheriff  could  see  that  there  was  some  style  about 
it,  anyway. 


i88  THE  FAMILY  AT  GILJE 

And  when  they  turned  towards  home,  after  the 
ceremony  was  over,  now  with  the  captain  and  his 
wife  in  the  first  sleigh  and  the  wedded  couple  in 
the  other — there  was  such  a  long  cortege  that  the 
sherifFs  idea  of  celebrating  the  wedding  quietly 
must  be  regarded  as  wholly  overridden. 

At  Gilje  dinner  was  waiting. 

During  this  the  powers  of  the  battalion  from  the 
youngest  lieutenant  up  to  the  captain  developed 
a  youthful  courage  in  their  attack  on  the  strong 
wares,  so  wild  and  so  regardless  of  the  results,  that 
it  could  only  demand  of  the  sheriff  a  certain  degree 
of  prudence. 

All  would  drink  with  the  bride  and  the  bride- 
groom, again  and  again. 

The  sheriff  sat  contented  and  leaning  forward 
with  his  great  forehead  thinly  covered  with  hair, 
taking  pains  to  choose  his  words  in  the  cleverest 
and  most  fitting  manner  for  the  occasion. 

And  so  long  as  it  was  confined  to  the  speeches, 
he  was  the  absolute  master,  unless  he  might  pos- 
sibly have  a  rival  in  the  army  surgeon's  sometimes 
more  deeply  laid  satire,  which  became  more  prob- 
lematical and  sarcastic  after  he  had  been  drinking. 

But  now  the  small  twinkling  eyes,  shining  more 
and  more  dimly  and  tenderly  veiled,  devoted  them- 
selves exclusively  to  the  bride. 

She  must  taste  the  tower  tart  and  the  wine  cus- 
tard, for  his  sake!  He  would  not  drink  any  more. 


CHAPTER  X  189 

if  he  could  avoid  it,  for  her  sake.  "  I  assure  you," 
for  your — -only  for  your  sake." 

An  inroad  was  made  on  the  wares  at  Gilje  with 
prolonged  hilarity  till  far  into  the  night,  when  some 
of  the  sleighs  in  the  starlight  and  in  the  gleam  of 
the  Northern  lights  reeled  homewards  with  their 
half  unconscious  burdens  drawn  by  their  sober 
horses,  while  as  many  as  the  house  would  hold 
remained  over  in  order  to  celebrate  the  wedding 
and  Christmas  the  next  day. 

By  New  Year's  the  house  was  finally  emptied  of 
its  guests,  the  sheriff  and  Kathinka  were  installed 
in  their  home,  and  the  captain  travelled  down  on  a 
visit  to  them  with  Thea  in  order  to  have  his  New 
Year's  Day  spree  there. 

But  then  Ma  was  tired  out  and  completely  ex- 
hausted. 

She  felt,  now  the  wheel  of  work  had  stopped  all 
at  once,  and  she  sat  there  at  home  alone,  on  the  day 
after  New  Year's,  how  tremendous  a  load  it  had 
been  to  pull.  The  trousseau  all  through  the  autumn 
and  the  household  affairs  before  the  holidays, 
Christmas,  and  the  wedding,  and  all  the  anxieties. 

It  had  gone  on  incessantly  now,  as  far  back  as 
she  could  think.  It  was  like  ravelling  out  the  yarn 
from  a  stocking,  the  longer  she  thought,  the  longer 
it  was,  clear  back  to  the  time  when  it  seemed  to  her 
there  was  a  rest  the  days  she  was  lying  in  childbed. 

But  that  was  now  long  since. 


I90  THE  FAMILY  AT  GILJE 

She  was  sitting  in  the  corner  of  the  sofa  half 
asleep  in  the  twilight,  with  her  knitting  untouched 
before  her. 

Aslak  and  two  of  the  girls  had  got  leave  to  go 
to  a  Christmas  entertainment  down  at  the  Skre- 
berg  farm,  and  except  old  Torbjorg,  who  was  sit- 
ting with  her  hymn  book  and  humming  and  sing- 
ing in  the  kitchen,  there  was  no  one  at  home. 

Bells  jingled  out  in  the  yard.  Great-Ola  had 
come  home  with  the  two-seated  sleigh  and  old 
Svarten,  after  having  driven  the  captain  and  Thea. 

He  stamped  the  snow  off  in  the  hall  and  peeped 
in  through  the  door. 

When  he  drove  past  Teigen,  the  postmaster 
had  come  out  with  the  captain's  mail. 

"When  did  you  get  there  last  evening?  I  hope 
Thea  was  not  cold." 

"  No,  not  at  all !  We  were  down  there  in  good 
time  before  supper.  Ever  so  many  messages  from 
the  young  wife;  she  was  down  in  the  stable  and 
patted  and  stroked  Svarten  last  night.  It  was  kind 
of  a  separation." 

Ma  rose.  "There  is  a  candle  laid  out  for  the 
stable  lantern." 

Great-Ola  vanished  again. 

Old  Svarten,  still  harnessed  to  the  sleigh,  stood 
in  the  stable  door  and  neighed  impatiently. 

"It  only  lacked  that  you  should  turn  the  key 
also,"  growled  Ola,  while  he  took  off  the  harness, 


CHAPTER  X  191 

and,  now  with  the  harness  and  bells  over  his  arm, 
let  the  horse  walk  in  before  him. 

"Why,  if  young  Svarten  isn't  neighing  also! 
That  was  the  first  time  you  have  said  a  decent  good 
day  here  in  the  stable,  do  you  know  that?  But  you 
will  have  to  wait,  you  see." 

He  curried  and  brushed  and  rubbed  the  new 
arrival  like  a  privileged  old  gentleman.  They 
had  been  serving  together  now  just  exactly  nine 
years. 

In  the  kitchen  the  spruce  wood  crackled  and 
snapped  on  the  hearth,  casting  an  uncertain  reddish 
glow  over  Ma's  newly  polished  copper  and  tin 
dishes  and  making  them  look  like  mystical  shields 
and  weapons  hung  on  the  walls. 

Great-Ola  was  now  sitting  there  making  himself 
comfortable  with  his  supper,  Christmas  cheer  and 
entertainment — butter,  bread,  bacon,  wort-cakes, 
and  salt  meat;  and  Torbjorg  had  been  ordered  to 
draw  a  bowl  of  small  beer  for  him  down  in  the  cellar. 
Ola  had  heard  one  thing  and  another  down  there. 

Thinka,  she  had  gone  out  into  the  kitchen  and 
would  take  charge  of  the  housekeeping  immediately. 
But  there  she  found  some  one  who  meant  to  hold 
the  reins. 

Old  Miss  Giilcke  would  n't  hear  of  that.  She 
went  straight  up  to  the  office,  they  said,  and  twisted 
and  turned  it  over  with  her  brother  the  whole  fore- 
noon till  she  got  what  she  wanted. 


192  THE  FAMILY  AT  GILJE 

And  in  the  evening  the  sheriff  sat  on  the  sofa 
and  talked  so  sweetly  to  the  young  wife.  Beret,  the 
chamber-maid,  heard  him  say  that  he  wanted  her 
to  have  everything  so  extremely  nice  and  be  wholly 
devoted  to  him,  so  that — Horsch,  the  old  gray- 
beard  !  We  can  see  now  what  he  was  doing  here  last 
year. 

"And  thereby,"  said  Ola,  with  a  mouthful  be- 
tween his  teeth,  while  he  cut  and  spread  a  new  slice 
of  bread,  "she  got  rid  of  the  trouble  and  the  man- 
agement too." 

"  It  is  of  no  use  to  pull  the  noose  when  one  has 
his  head  in  a  snare,  you  see,  Ola." 

In  the  sitting-room  Ma  had  examined  the  mail 
that  had  come,  sitting  by  the  stove  door.  Besides 
a  number  oiHermoder,  'The  Constitutional^  and  a  free 
official  document,  there  was  a  letter  from  Aunt 
Alette. 

She  lighted  the  candle  and  sat  down  to  read  it. 

In  certain  respects  it  was  a  piece  of  good  fortune 
that  Jager  was  not  at  home.  He  ought  to  have 
nothing  to  do  with  this. 

Dear  Gitta, —  I  have  taken  the  second  Christmas 
day  to  write  down  for  you  my  thoughts  concerning 
Inger-Johanna.  I  cannot  deny  that  she  has  come 
to  interest  me  almost  more  than  I  could  wish;  but, 
if  we  can  feel  a  certain  degree  of  anxiety  for  the 
smallest  fiower  in  our  window,  which  is  just  going 


CHAPTER  X  193 

to  blossom,  how  much  more  then  for  a  human  bud, 
which  in  the  developing  beauty  of  its  youth  is  rekdy 
to  burst  out  with  its  life's  fate.  This  is  more  than 
a  romance,  it  is  the  noble  art  work  of  the  Guide  of 
all,  which  in  depth  and  splendor  and  immeasurable 
wealth  surpasses  everything  that  human  fantasy  is 
able  to  represent. 

Yes,  she  interests  me,  dear  Gitta!  so  that  my  old 
heart  almost  trembles  at  thinking  of  the  life  path 
which  may  await  her,  when  rise  or  fall  may  depend 
on  a  single  deceptive  moment. 

What  can  Nature  mean  in  letting  such  a  host  of 
existences,  in  which  hearts  are  beating,  succumb 
and  be  lost  in  this  choice,  or  does  it  thereby  in  its 
great  crucible  make  an  exact  assay,  without  which 
nothing  succeeds  in  passing  over  into  a  more  com- 
plete development — who  can  unriddle  Nature's 
runes  ?  My  hope  for  Inger-Johanna  is  that  the  fund 
or  the  weight  of  personality,  which  she  possesses 
in  her  own  nature,  will  preponderate  in  the  scales 
of  her  choice  in  the  decisive  moment. 

I  premise  all  this  as  a  sigh  from  my  innermost 
heart;  for  I  follow  with  increasing  dread  how  the 
path  is  made  more  and  more  slippery  under  her  feet, 
and  how  delicately  your  sister-in-law  weaves  the 
net  around  her,  not  with  small  means  to  which 
Inger-Johanna  would  be  superior,  but  with  more 
deep-lying,  sounding  allurements. 

To  open  up  the  fascinating  prospect  of  making 


194  THE  FAMILY  AT  GILJE 

her  personal  qualities  and  gifts  count — what  greater 
attraction  can  be  spread  out  before  a  nature  so  ar- 
dently aspiring  as  hers?  It  is  told  of  Englishmen 
that  they  fish  with  a  kind  of  counterfeited,  glitter- 
ing flies,  which  they  drag  over  the  surface  of  the 
water  until  the  fish  bites ;  and  it  appears  to  me  that 
in  no  less  skilful  manner  your  sister-in-law  contin- 
ually tempts  Inger-Johanna's  illusions.  She  never 
mentions  the  name  of  the  one  concerned,  so  that 
it  may  dawn  upon  her  of  itself. 

Only  the  careless  hint  to  me,  in  her  hearing, 
the  last  time  I  was  there,  that  Ronnow  had  cer- 
tainly for  some  time  been  rather  fastidiously  look- 
ing for  a  wife  among  the  Hite  of  our  ladies — why 
was  not  that  calculated  to  excite,  what  shall  I  call 
it,  her  ambition  or  her  need  of  having  a  field  of 
influence? 

Perhaps  I  should  not  have  noticed  this  remark 
to  that  extent  if  I  had  not  seen  the  impression  it 
made  on  her;  she  was  very  absent-minded  and  lost 
in  thoughts. 

And  yet  the  question  of  whether  one  should 
give  her  heart  away  ought  to  be  so  simple  and 
uncomplicated!  Are  you  in  love?  Everything  else 
only  turns  on — something  else. 

The  unfortunate  and  fateful  thing  is  if  she  ima- 
gines she  is  able  to  love,  binds  herself  in  duty  to 
love,  and  thinks  that  she  can  say  to  her  immature 
heart:  You  shall  never  awaken.  Dear  Gitta,  sup- 


CHAPTER  X  195 

pose  it  did  awaken — afterwards — with  her  strong, 
vigorous  nature? 

It  is  that  which  hovers  before  me  so  that  I  have 
been  compelled  to  write.  To  talk  to  her  and  make 
her  prudent  would  be  to  show  colors  to  the  blind; 
she  must  believe  blindly  in  the  one  who  advises 
her.  Therefore  it  is  you,  Gitta,  who  must  take  hold 
and  write. 

Ma  laid  the  letter  down  in  her  lap;  she  sat  in  the 
light,  looking  paler  and  sharper  even  than  common. 

It  was  easy  for  Aunt  Alette,  the  excellent  Aunt 
Alette,  to  think  so  happily  that  everything  should 
be  as  it  ought  to  be.  She  had  her  little  inheritance  to 
live  on  and  was  not  dependent  on  any  one.  But — 
Ma  assumed  a  dry,  repellent  expression — with- 
out the  four  thousand,  old  and  tormented  in  Miss 
Jorgensen's  place  at  the  governor's,  she  would  not 
have  written  that  kind  of  angelic  letter. 

Ma  read  on: 

I  must  also  advance  here  some  further  doubts,  so 
that  you  will  certainly  think  this  is  a  sad  Christmas 
letter.  This,  then,  is  about  dear  Jorgen,  who  finds 
it  so  hard  at  school.  That  he  has  thus  far  been  able 
to  keep  up  with  his  class,  we  owe  to  Student  Grip, 
who,  persistently  and  without  being  willing  ever  to 
hear  a  word  about  any  compensation,  has  gone  over 
with  him  and  cleared  up  for  him  his  worst  stum- 


196  THE  FAMILY  AT  GILJE 

bling-blocks,  the  German  and  the  Latin  grammar. 

And  if  I  now  express  his  idea  in  regard  to  Jorgen, 
it  is  with  no  small  degree  of  confidence  that  it  may 
be  well  founded.  He  says  that  so  far  from  Jorgen's 
having  a  poor  head,  it  is  just  the  opposite.  Only 
he  is  not  made  for  the  abstract,  which  is  the  requi- 
site for  literary  progress,  but  all  the  more  for  the 
practical. 

In  connection  with  a  sound,  clear  judgment,  he 
is  both  dexterous  and  inventive.  Jorgen  would  be 
an  excellent  mechanic  or  even  a  mechanical  engi- 
neer, and  would  come  to  distinguish  himself  just  as 
certainly  as  he  will  reap  trouble,  difficulty,  and  only 
extremely  moderate  results  by  toiling  from  exami- 
nation to  examination  in  his  studies. 

To  be  sure,  I  cannot  subscribe  to  Student  Grip's 
somewhat  youthful  wild  ideas  about  sending  him  to 
be  an  apprentice  in  England  (or  even  so  far  as  to 
the  American  Free  States !)  inasmuch  as  a  mechanic 
cannot  here  obtain  a  respected  rank  in  society,  such 
as  is  said  to  be  the  case  in  the  above  named  lands. 

Still,  much  of  this,  it  seems  to  me,  is  worth  taking 
into  serious  consideration. 

I  sometimes  almost  doubt  whether,  old  as  I  am, 
nevertheless  I  might  be  too  young.  Call  it  the  fruit 
of  inner  development  or  simply  an  attraction,  but 
the  thoughts  of  the  young  always  exert  an  enliv- 
ening and  strengthening  influence  on  my  hope  of 
Hfe.  Still,  I  never  reconcile  myself  to  the  thought 


CHAPTER  X  197 

that  our  ideals  must  inevitably,  by  a  kind  of  natural 
law,  become  exhausted  and  weakened  and  break 
from  age  like  any  old  earthenware. 

And  when  I  see  a  young  man  like  Grip  judged 
so  severely  by  the  so-called  practical  men  —  not,  so 
far  as  I  understand,  for  his  ideas  of  education,  but 
because  he  would  sacrifice  himself  and  put  them  in 
operation — I  cannot  avoid  giving  him  my  whole 
sympathy  and  respect. 

Now  he  has  abandoned  law  and  devoted  himself 
to  the  study  of  philology ;  for,  he  says,  in  this  coun- 
try no  work  is  of  any  use  without  a  sign-board,  and 
he  will  now  try  to  get  a  richly  gilded  one  in  an  ex- 
cellent examination,  seize  hold  of  untrodden  soil, 
like  the  dwarf  birches  upon  the  mountain,  and  not 
let  go,  even  if  a  whole  avalanche  comes  over  him. 

When  it  is  considered  that  he  must  work  hard 
and  teach  several  hours  daily  only  to  beable  to  exist, 
I  cannot  but  admire  his  fiery  courage  and — true, 
I  have  not  many  with  me — wish  him  good  luck. 

Ma  sat  pondering. 

Then  she  cut  out  the  page  which  spoke  of 
Jorgen.  It  might  be  worth  while,  if  opportunity  of- 
fered, to  show  it  to  Jager.  In  the  simplicity  of  her 
heart,  she  really  did  not  know  what  to  think. 


Chapter  XI 

EVERYTHING  was  white  now  In  the  very 
heart  of  winter,  white  from  the  window-panes 
in  the  sitting-room  to  the  garden,  the  fields,  and 
the  mountain  slopes,  white  as  the  eye  glided  over 
the  mountain-tops  up  to  the  sky,  which  lay  like  a 
semi-transparent,  thickly  frosted  window-pane  and 
shut  it  all  in. 

It  was  cold  here,  the  warm-blooded  captain  main- 
tained. He  began  to  amuse  himself  with  feeling  and 
tracing  out  where  there  was  a  draught,  and  then 
with  pasting  long  strips  of  paper  with  cloth  and 
oakum  under  it.  And  then  he  used  to  go  out  from 
his  work,  with  only  his  wig,  without  his  hat,  and 
chat  with  the  people  in  the  stable  or  at  the  barn, 
where  they  were  threshing. 

They  were  lonely  there  now  with  only  Ma,Thea, 
and  himself;  no  one  understood  what  Thinka  had 
been  for  him ! 

At  last  he  ended  in  pondering  on  laying  out  fox- 
traps  and  traps  and  spring-guns  for  wolves  and  lynx 
in  the  hill  pastures. 

Ma  was  obliged  a  hundred  times  a  day  to  answer 
what  she  thought,  even  if  she  had  just  as  much  idea 
about  it  as  about  pulling  down  the  moon. 

"Yes,  yes,  do  it,  dear  Jager." 

"Yes,  but  do  you  believe  it  will  pay — that  is  what 


CHAPTER  XI  199 

I  am  asking  about — to  go  to  the  expense  of  fox- 
traps?" 

"If  you  can  catch  any,  then  —  " 

"Yes,  if—" 

"A  fox  skin  is  certainly  worth  something." 

"  Had  n't  I  better  try  to  put  out  bait  for  lynx  and 
wolf?" 

"  I  should  think  that  would  be  dearer." 

"Yes,  but  the  skin — if  I  get  any;  it  depends  on 
that,  you  see." 

Then  he  would  saunter  thoughtfully  out  of  the 
door,  to  come  back  an  hour  later  and  again  and  again 
fill  her  ears  with  the  same  thing. 

Ma's  instinct  told  her  that  the  object  of  his  first 
catch  was  really  she;  if  she  allowed  herself  to  be 
fooled  into  giving  positive  advice,  he  would  not  for- 
get to  let  her  feel  the  responsibility  for  the  result, 
if  it  should  be  a  loss. 

To-day  he  had  again  been  pondering  and  going 
over  the  affair  with  her,  when  they  were  surprised  by 
the  sherifFs  double  sleigh  driving  up  to  the  steps. 

The  hall  door,  creaking  with  the  frost,  flew  open 
under  the  captain's  eager  hand. 

"In  with  you  into  the  sitting-room.  Sheriff." 

Behind  his  wolf-skin  coat  Thinka  emerged, 
stately  and  wrapped  up  in  furs. 

"Your  most  obedient  servant,  kinsman,  and 
friend." 


200  THE  FAMILY  AT  GILJE 

The  sheriff  was  on  a  business  trip  farther  up,  and 
asked  for  hospitality  for  Thinka  for  two  or  three 
days,  till  he  came  back ;  he  would  not  omit  to  claim 
her  again  promptly.  And,  in  the  next  place,  he  must 
ask  of  his  father-in-law  the  loan  of  a  small  sleigh  for 
hisfurtherjourney ;  he  should  be  way  up  inNordal's 
annex  this  evening. 

Thinka  already  had  Torbjorg  and  Thea  com- 
peting each  for  one  of  her  snow-stockings  to  get 
them  off,  and  Marit  was  not  free  from  eagerly 
peeping  in  at  the  door. 

"You  shall,  in  any  event,  have  a  little  something 
to  eat  and  some  tea-punch,  while  the  horse  gets  its 
breath,  and  they  make  the  sleigh  ready." 

The  sheriff  did  not  have  much  time  to  waste,  but 
the  sun  of  family  life  shone  too  mildly  here  for  him 
not  to  give  a  half  hour,  exactly  by  the  clock. 

He  made  one  or  two  attempts  to  get  his  things 
off,  but  then  went  to  Thinka. 

"You  have  tied  the  knot  in  my  silk  handker- 
.chief  so  well  that  you  will  have  to  undo  it  yourself. 
Thanks,  thanks,  my  dear  Thinka.  —  She  spoils  me 
completely.  Nay,  you  know  her.  Captain." 

"You  see  what  she  has  already  begun  to  be  for 
me,"  he  said  later,  appealing  with  a  pleasant  smile 
to  his  father-in-law  and  mother-in-law  at  the  hastily 
served  collation  —  he  must  have  his  tea-punch 
poured  out  by  Thinka's  hand. 

When  the  sheriff,  carefully  wrapped  up  by  his 


CHAPTER  XI  20I 

young  wife,  was  followed  out  to  the  sleigh,  Thinka's 
tea  stood  there  almost  untouched  and  cold;  but  Ma 
came  now  with  a  freshly  filled  hot  cup,  and  they 
could  sit  down  to  enjoy  the  return  home  in  peace. 

He  is  certainly  very  good.  Ma  thought — he  had 
guessed  that  Thinka  was  homesick. 

"The  sheriff  is  really  very  considerate  of  you, 
Thinka,  to  let  you  come  home  so  soon,"  she  said. 

"  Fine  man !  Would  have  to  hunt  a  long  time  for 
his  like!"  exclaimed  the  captain  with  a  full,  strong 
bass.  "Treats  you  like  a  doll,  Thinka." 

"He  is  as  good  as  he  can  be.  Next  week  Miss 
Brun  is  coming  to  make  over  a  satin  dress  for  me; 
it  has  only  been  worn  once.  Giilcke  will  have  me  so 
fine,"  said  Thinka,  by  way  of  illustration.  The  tone 
was  so  quiet  that  it  was  not  easy  for  Ma  to  tell  what 
she  meant. 

"The  fellow  stands  on  his  head  for  you;  don't 
know  what  he  will  hit  upon." 

Besides  his  wish  to  meet  his  wife's  longing  for 
home,  the  sheriff  may  possibly  also  have  deter- 
mined to  take  her  with  him  from  a  little  regard  for 
the  younger  powers  in  the  principal  parish  —  Buch- 
holtz  and  Horn.  They  had  begun  to  visit  at  his 
house  somewhat  often  and  evidently  to  feel  at  home 
there,  after  a  young,  engaging  hostess  had  come  to 
the  house. 

Towards  evening  the  captain  had  a  quiet  game 
of  picquet. 


202  THE  FAMILY  AT  GILJE 

It  seemed  as  if  comfort  accompanied  Thinka. 
Her  mediatorial  and  soothing  nature  had  come  to 
the  house  again;  it  was  felt  both  in  parlor  and 
kitchen. 

Father  came  again  in  the  forenoon  for  a  little 
portion  of  oat  cake  and  whey  cheese  when  they  were 
cooking  salt  meat  and  peas  in  the  kitchen,  and  Ma 
found  first  one  thing  and  then  another  done  for  her 
and  was  anticipated  in  many  handy  trifles,  notwith- 
standing that  Thinka  also  had  to  finish  a  pair  of 
embroidered  slippers  that  Giilcke  had  expressed  a 
wish  for.  But  there  was  plenty  of  time  for  that.  She 
got  well  along  on  the  pattern  while  her  father  was 
taking  his  noonday  nap,  and  she  sat  up  there  and 
read  him  to  sleep. 

The  captain  found  it  so  comfortable  when  he  saw 
the  needle  and  worsted  flying  in  Thinka's  hand  — 
it  was  so  peacefully  quiet — it  was  impossible  not  to 
go  to  sleep. 

And  then  he  was  going  to  have  her  for  only  three 
days. 

While  her  fingers  were  moving  over  the  canvas, 
Kathinka  sat  having  a  solitary  meditation  — 

Aas  had  sent  her  a  letter  when  he  heard  of  her 
marriage.  He  had  believed  in  her  so  that  he  could 
have  staked  his  life  on  her  constancy,  and  even  if 
many  years  were  to  have  passed,  he  would  have 
worked,  scrimped,  and  scraped  in  order  at  last  to 
have  been  able  to  reach  her  again,  even  if  they  should 


CHAPTER  XI  203 

then  both  have  left  their  youth  behind  them.  It  had 
been  his  joyful  hope  that  she  would  keep  firm  and 
wait  for  him  even  through  straits  and  poor  circum- 
stances. But  nowthatshe  had  sold  herself  for  goods 
and  gold,  he  did  not  believe  in  any  one  any  more. 
He  had  only  one  heart,  not  two ;  but  the  misfortune 
was,  he  saw  it  more  plainly,  that  she  also  had — 

"Huf!  I  thought  I  heard  you  sighing  deeply," 
said  the  captain,  waking  up ;  "  that  comes  from  lying 
and  struggling  on  one's  back.  Now  we  shall  have 
some  coffee." 

Even  if  Thinka  could  not  answer  Aas,  still  she 
would  try  to  relieve  her  heart  a  little  to  Inger- 
Johanna.  She  had  brought  her  last  letter  with  her 
to  answer  in  this  period  of  calm  at  home,  and  was 
sitting  up  in  her  room  with  it  before  her,  in  the 
evening. 

"  Inger-Johanna  is  fortunate,  as  she  has  nothing 
else  to  think  of,"  she  said  to  herself,  sighing  and 
reading: 

And  you,  Thinka,  you  also  ought  to  have  your 
eye  on  your  part  of  the  country,  and  make  some- 
thing out  of  the  place  into  which  you  have  now 
come;  it  is  indeed  needed  up  there,  for  there  is  no 
doubt  that  society  has  its  great  mission  in  the  re- 
finement of  customs  and  the  contest  against  the 
crude,  as  aunt  expresses  it. 

I  am  not  writing  this  for  nothing,  nor  wholly 


204  THE  FAMILY  AT  GILJE 

in  the  air;  I  stand,  indeed,  too  near  to  many  con- 
ditions to  be  able  to  avoid  thinking  of  the  possi- 
bility of  sometime  being  placed  in  such  a  position. 
If  I  said  anything  else,  I  should  not  be  sincere. 

And  I  must  tell  you,  I  see  a  great  many  things 
I  should  like  to  help  in.  It  must  be  that  a  place 
can  be  found  for  a  good  many  ideas  which  now, 
as  it  were,  are  excommunicated. 

Society  ought  to  be  tolerant,  aunt  says;  why, 
then,  cannot  such  views  as  Grip's  be  discussed 
peacefully  ?  The  first  thing  I  would  do  would  be 
to  go  in  for  being  extravagant  and  defending  them. 
In  a  woman,  nevertheless,  this  is  never  anything 
more  than  piquancy.  But  ideas  also  must  fight 
their  way  into  good  society. 

I  ponder  and  think  more  than  you  can  imagine; 
I  feel  that  I  ought  to  put  something  right,  you  see. 

And  I  am  not  any  longer  so  struck  with  the 
wisdom  of  men  altogether.  A  woman  like  aunt 
keeps  silent  and  pulls  the  strings;  but  you  can 
never  imagine  how  many  are  led  by  her  strings. 
She  is,  between  ourselves,  a  little  diplomatic,  in  an 
old-fashioned  way,  and  full  of  flourishes,  so  that 
she  almost  makes  it  a  pleasure  to  have  it  go  unob- 
served and  by  a  roundabout  way.  Straight  out 
would  many  times  be  better,  I  believe ;  at  any  rate, 
that  is  my  nature. 

And  still  a  Httle  warning  with  it,  Thinka  (oh,  how 
I  feel  I  speak  as  if  I  were  in  aunt's  skin!)  Remem- 


CHAPTER  XI  205 

ber  that  no  one  ever  rules  a  room  except  from  a 
place  on  the  sofa;  I  know  you  are  so  modest  that 
they  are  always  getting  you  off  on  the  chairs.  You 
are  not  at  all  so  stupid  as  you  imagine;  only  you 
ought  not  to  try  to  hide  what  you  think. 

If  I  should  sometime  meet  Grip  again,  I  should 
convince  him  that  there  may  be  other  ways  to 
Rome  than  just  going  head  foremost  at  it!  I  have 
got  a  little  notion  of  my  own  since  he  last  domi- 
neered me,  with  his  contempt  for  society,  and  was 
always  so  superior.  But  I  have  not  had  more  than 
one  or  two  glimpses  of  him  on  the  street  the  whole 
winter.  He  is  so  taken  up  by  his  own  affairs;  and 
it  is  n't  proper,  uncle  says,  to  invite  him  to  soirees, 
since  he  has  pledged  himself  to  certain  strong  ideas, 
which  one  does  not  dare  to  hint  at  without  pro- 
voking a  very  serious  dispute.  In  one  or  two  gen- 
tlemen parties  he  has  been  entirely  too  grandilo- 
quent— drank  too  much,  uncle  thought.  But  I 
know  so  well  why.  He  must  hit  upon  something,  he 
used  to  say,  when  he  gets  tired  and  bored  too  much, 
and  at  the  Durings  there  is  a  dreadful  vacuum. 

Thinka  had  read  the  letter  through;  there  might 
be  much  to  think  of,  but  she  was  so  taken  up  by 
Aas — she  was  never  done  with  rolling  that  mill- 
stone. 


2o6  THE  FAMILY  AT  GILJE 

During  the  monotony  of  winter,  in  the  middle  of 
February,  a  letter  was  received,  which  the  captain 
at  first  weighed  in  his  hand  and  examined  two  or 
three  times — white,;glossy  vellum  paper,  C.  R.  in 
the  seal — and  he  tore  it  open. 

Yes,  to  be  sure,  it  was  from  Ronnow!  —  his 
brilliant,  running  hand  with  the  peculiar  swing, 
which  brought  him  to  mind,  as  his  elegant  form, 
with  a  jaunty  tread,  moved  up  and  down. 

Captain  Peter  Jager, — Highly  esteemed,  dear 
old  comrade  and  friend: 

I  shall  not  preface  this  with  any  long  preludes 
about  position  in  life,  prospects,  etc.,  but  go  straight 
on  with  my  prayer  and  request. 

As  you  have  seen  that  my  cards  are  lucky — 
really  more  as  they  have  been  dealt  than  as  I  have 
played  them — you  will  certainly  understand  that 
in  the  last  two  or  three  years  I  have  found  it  proper 
to  look  about  for  a  wife  and  a  partner  for  life  who 
would  be  suitable  for  my  condition.  But  during 
the  whole  of  my  seeking  there  was  hidden  in  the 
most  secret  corner  of  my  heart  a  black-haired,  dark- 
eyed  girl,  whom  I  first  saw  by  the  card-table  one 
winter  evening  up  at  Gilje,  and  whom  I  have  since 
seen  again  and  again  with  ever  more  fascination 
during  her  development  into  the  proud  woman  and 
lady  whose  superior  nature  was  incontestable. 

Now,  with  my  round  six-and-forty  years,  I  shall 


CHAPTER  XI  207 

not  hold  forth  with  any  long  tale  of  my  love  for  her, 
although,  perhaps,  there  might  be  a  good  deal  to  say 
on  that  point  also.  That  I  am  not  old  inwardly 
I  have  at  all  events  fully  found  out  on  this  occasion. 

It  goes  without  saying  that  I  do  not  address  my 
prayer  to  you  without  having  first  satisfied  myself 
by  a  close  and  long  acquaintance  that  your  daugh- 
ter also  could  cherish  some  feelings  responsive  to 
mine. 

That  the  result  has  not  been  to  my  disadvantage 
is  apparent  from  her  precious  reply  to  me,  received 
yesterday,  in  which  I  have  her  yes  and  consent. 

In  the  hope  that  a  sincere  conduct  and  intention 
will  not  be  misconstrued,  I  herewith  address  the 
prayer  and  the  question  to  you  and  your  dear  wife 
— whether  you  will  trust  to  me  the  future  of  your 
precious  Inger-Johanna,'' 

What  a  man  can  do  to  smooth  and  make  easy 
her  path  of  life,  that  I  dare  promise,  on  my  parole 
d'honneur^  she  shall  never  lack. 

I  will  also  add  that  when  the  court,  towards  the 
end  of  May  or  the  early  part  of  June,  goes  to  Chris- 
tiania,  I  shall  be  on  duty  and  go  too.  I  shall  then 
be  able  again  to  see  her  on  whom  all  my  hope  and 
longing  are  placed. 

In  anxious  expectation  of  your  honored  answer, 
Most  respectfully, 

Your  always  faithful  friend, 

Carsten   Ronnow 


2o8  THE  FAMILY  AT  GILJE 

Here  was  something  better  to  think  about  than 
to  talk  with  Ma  about  fox-traps  and  spring-guns. 

There  would  not  be  any  after-dinner  nap  to-day. 

He  rushed  out  into  the  yard  with  great  force: 
another  man  must  thresh  in  the  barn ;  the  manure 
must  be  drawn  out;  they  must  hurry! 

He  came  in  and  seated  himself  on  the  sofa  and 
lighted  a  lamplighter,  but  jumped  up  again  while 
he  held  it  to  his  pipe.  He  remembered  that  a  mes- 
sage must  be  sent  to  the  smith  to  mend  the  harrows 
and  tools  for  spring. 

There  was  no  help  for  it,  he  must  go  down  and 
tell  the  news  to  the  sheriff  himself. 


D 


Chapter  XII 

URING   the  first  days   of  March   Inger- 
Johanna  wrote: 


This  comes  so  close  upon  my  former,  because  I 
have  just  received  a  letter  from  Ronnow  about 
something  on  which  I  would  gladly,  dear  parents, 
have  you  stand  on  my  side,  when  you,  as  I  foresee, 
receive  aunt's  explicit  and  strong  representation 
and  reasons  in  the  opposite  direction. 

Ronnow  already  writes  as  if  it  were  something 
certain  and  settled  that  we  should  have  the  wed- 
ding in  the  summer,  in  June  or  July.  Aunt  wants 
it  at  her  house,  and  hopes  that,  in  any  event,  you, 
father,  will  come  down. 

Ronnow  urges  so  many  amiable  considerations 
which  speak  for  it,  and  I  do  not  at  all  doubt  that 
aunt  in  her  abundant  kindness  will  take  care  to 
make  it  doubly  sure  with  a  four-page  letter  full  of 
reasons. 

But  against  all  this  I  have  only  one  thing  to  say, 
that  I,  at  the  time  I  gave  my  consent  to  Ronnow, 
did  not  at  all  foresee  such  haste  without,  as  it  were, 
a  little  time  and  breathing-space  for  myself 

It  is  possible  that  others  cannot  understand  this 
feeling  of  mine,  and  especially  it  seems  that  aunt 
thinks  it  does  not  exactly  show  the  degree  of  hearti- 
ness of  feeling  that  Ronnow  could  expect. 


210  THE  FAMILY  AT  GILJE 

But  to  the  last,  which  is  certainly  the  only  one 
of  the  whole  number  she  can  urge  that  is  worth 
answering,  I  will  only  say,  that  it  cannot  possibly 
be  Ronnow's  intent  to  offend  my  innermost  sensi- 
bilities when  he  learns  how  I  feel  about  it. 

I  only  ask  for  suitable  time — for  instance,  till 
some  time  next  winter.  I  should  so  much  like  to 
have  this  year,  summer  and  autumn  at  least,  a  little 
in  quiet  and  peace.  There  is  so  much  to  think  over, 
among  other  things  my  future  position.  I  want  first 
to  study  the  French  grammar  through,  and  I 
should  prefer  to  do  it  at  home  alone,  and  generally 
to  prepare  myself.  It  is  not  merely  like  jumping 
into  a  new  silk  dress. 

Oh,  I  wish,  I  wish,  I  wish  I  could  be  at  Gilje  this 
summer!  I  sat  yesterday  thinking  how  delightful 
it  was  there  last  year  on  the  high  mountains ! 

No,  aunt  and  I  would  not  agree  permanently. 
Her  innermost,  innermost  peculiarity  (let  it  be 
never  so  well  enveloped  in  amiability  and  gentle 
ways  of  speech)  is  that  she  is  tyj-annical.  Therefore 
she  wants  now  to  manage  my  wedding,  and  there- 
fore— which  can  now  vex  and  disturb  me,  so  that  I 
have  n't  words  for  it !  — she  has  in  these  days  got  my 
good-natured  (but  not  especially  strong-minded, 
it  would  be  a  pity  to  say  that!)  uncle  to  commit  the 
act,  which  is  far  from  being  noble,  of  dismissing 
Grip  from  his  position  in  the  office.  It  is  just  like 
robbing  him  of  half  of  what  is  needed  to  enable  him 


CHAPTER  XII  211 

to  live  and  study  here,  and  that  only  because  she 
does  not  tolerate  his  ideas. 

I  let  her  know  plainly  what  I  thought  about  it, 
that  it  was  both  heartless  and  intolerant;  I  was  so 
moved. 

But  why  she  pursues  him  to  the  seventh  and  last 
— for  with  aunt  there  is  always  something  for  the 
seventh  and  last — that  I  should  still  like  to  know. 

Regard  must  naturally  be  paid  to  Inger-Johanna's 
wish  to  postpone  the  wedding.  And  so  there  was 
writing  and  writing  to  and  fro. 

But  then  came  Ronnow's  new  promotion  and 
with  it  the  practical  consideration,  which  weighed 
on  the  scales,  that  housekeeping  must  be  begun  on 
moving-day  in  October. 


There  was  a  general  brushing  up  at  Gilje  from 
top  to  bottom,  inside  and  out.  The  rooms  upstairs 
must  be  whitened  and  everything  put  in  order  for 
the  arrival  of  the  newly  married  couple  to  re- 
main this  summer,  the  whole  of  July,  after  the 
wedding. 

And  when  Inger-Johanna  should  come  she  was 
to  meet  a  surprise — the  whole  of  the  captain's 
residence,  by  order  of  the  army  department,  newly 
painted  red  with  red-lead  and  white  window  sashes. 

The  captain's  every-day  coat  had  a  shower  of 


212  THE  FAMILY  AT  GILJE 

spots  at  all  times  in  the  day,  as  he  stood  out  by  the 
painter's  ladder  and  watched  the  work  —  first  the 
priming  and  now  the  second  coat;  then  came  the 
completion,  the  third  and  last.  The  spring  winds 
blew,  so  that  the  walls  dried  almost  immediately. 

He  was  a  little  dizzy  off  and  on  during  all  this, 
so  that  he  must  stop  and  recover  his  balance;  but 
there  was  good  reason  for  it,  because  the  parish 
clerk  this  year  had  not  taken  enough  blood,  since 
he  had  become  so  much  stouter! — and  then  per- 
haps he  pushed  on  too  hard  and  eagerly ;  for  he  did 
long  for  Inger-Johanna's  return. 

He  talked  of  nothing  but  Inger-Johanna,  of  her 
prospects,  beauty,  and  talents,  and  how  Ma  could 
not  deny  that  he  had  seen  what  there  was  in  her 
from  the  time  when  she  was  very  small. 

But  Ma  still  thought  privately,  while  he  was  go- 
ing about  boisterous  and  happy,  that  he  had  been 
less  stout  and  more  healthy  when  he  had  more 
anxieties  and  had  to  take  the  world  harder.  She  had 
let  him  into  the  secret  of  Aunt  Alette's  misgivings 
in  respect  to  Jorgen's  capacities  for  scholarship. 

"  I  have  not  been  able  to  avoid  thinking,  Jager, 
that  Jorgen  might  not  find  happiness  in  that  line." 

"In  what  line,  then?  —  Be  a  shoemaker  and  lie 
on  one  knee  and  take  the  measure  of  us  others,  per- 
haps—  Oh-ho,  no,"  stretching  himself  with  super- 
abundant conviction,  "if  we  can  afford  to  keep  him 
at  his  studies,  he  can  easily  learn.  There  are  many 


CHAPTER  XII  213 

more  stupid  than  he  who  have  attained  the  position 
of  both  minister  and  sheriff." 

One  day  the  captain  hastily  separated  a  letter 
from  Aunt  Alette  from  his  official  mail,  and  threw 
it  on  the  table  for  Ma  to  read  through  at  her  con- 
venience. If  there  was  anything  in  it,  she  could  tell 
it  to  him,  he  shouted  back,  as  he  went  up  the  stairs 
to  his  office;  he  had  become  a  great  deal  heavier 
and  more  short  of  breath  lately,  and  took  a  firmer 
hold  on  the  stair  rail. 

May  1, 1844 
My  dearest  Gitta, —  Itis  with  a  certain  sad,  sub- 
dued feeling  that  I  write  to  you  this  time;  nay,  I 
could  even  wish  to  characterize  it  by  a  stronger 
expression.  It  comes  to  my  old  ears  as  if  there  was 
a  lamentation  sounding  over  so  many  bright  hopes 
bowing  their  heads  to  the  ground;  and  I  can  only 
find  consolation  in  the  firm  faith,  cherished  through 
a  long  life,  that  nothing  happens  save  as  a  link  in 
a  higher  wisdom. 

Just  as  I  have  hitherto  tried  to  present  every- 
thing relating  to  Inger-Johanna  as  clearly  before 
you  as  I  could  see  it  myself,  so  I  find  it  most  proper 
not  to  conceal  from  you  the  struggle  which  she 
plainly  is  going  through  against  a  feeling,  from 
whose  power  I  hope  there  may  yet  be  salvation  in 
the  fortunate  circumstance  that  it  has  not  yet  had 
full  time  to  come  into  being  and  ripen  in  her. 


214  THE  FAMILY  AT  GILJE 

It  is  there,  and  it  produces  pain,  but  more,  is  my 
hope,  as  a  possibility,  which  has  not  put  out  suffi- 
cient roots,  than  as  a  reahty,  a  living  growth,  which 
could  not,  without  injury  to  her  innermost  being, 
coldly  be  subdued  and  stifled  again. 

But  never  has  shrewd  calculation  celebrated  a 
more  sorry  triumph  than  when  the  governor's  wife 
believed  that  she  could  find  a  remedy  by  keeping 
the  person  concerned  at  a  distance  and  at  last  even 
by  persecuting  him,  in  order  to  make  it  impossible 
for  him  to  support  himself  here.  When  it  is  con- 
sidered that  Inger-Johanna,  during  all  the  treat- 
ment that  Grip  has  endured  for  his  ideas,  has 
plainly  sympathized  with,  almost  championed  them, 
the  result  should  not  have  been  difficult  to  foresee. 

And  one  cold,  frosty  morning  early  this  winter, 
Inger-Johanna  came  here  in  great  mental  excite- 
ment to  make  an  examination  into  his  condition 
through  Jorgen.  It  was  then  also  at  her  appeal 
that  Jorgen  asked  him  to  teach  him  four  hours  a 
week. 

On  this  occasion  I  saw  clearly  what  before  I  had 
only  suspected,  but  which  had  not  escaped  your 
sister-in-law's  sharp  eye,  that  Student  Grip,  with- 
out Inger-Johanna's  having  any  idea  of  it,  had  en- 
grossed her  as  a  personality  that  drew  her  more  and 
more. 

It  is  of  no  use  to  conceal  it;  it  is  a  crisis  which 
must  be  fought  through,  before  she  finally  becomes 


CHAPTER  XII  215 

any  other  person's,  if  her  position  is  not  to  be  a  false 
one,  and  if  she  is  not  to  support  a  lifelong  sorrow. 

That  the  news  of  her  betrothal  has  fallen  like 
a  saddening  disappointment  of  a  hope  (even  if  a 
remote  one)  on  this  young  man,  I  regard  as  far 
from  improbable. 

I  certainly  cannot  forget  the  two  serious  young 
faces,  which  for  a  moment  stood  looking  at  each 
other,  when  they  met  in  my  room  one  afternoon. 
There  was  not  much  said. 

She  knew  that  he  had  been  wronged  and  she 
hinted  something  to  that  effect. 

"Possibly,  Miss  Jager,"  he  said  harshly,  while 
he  took  hold  of  the  door-knob.  "  So  many  soap- 
bubbles  burst." 

Inger-Johanna  remained  standing  and  looking 
down  on  the  floor.  It  was  as  if  an  entire  change  had 
come  over  her;  I  am  sure  it  dawned  upon  her  what 
he  felt. 

The  discharge  from  the  governor's  bureau  has 
plainly  enough  been  welcome  to  many  of  the  fam- 
ilies which  immediately  after  with  singular  quick- 
ness seized  the  opportunity  to  dismiss  him  as  tutor. 
A  man  of  such  strangely  discordant  ideas  had 
long  been  thought  not  quite  desirable  to  receive. 
And  the  example  had  been  given. 

From  an  honest  heart  I  offered  him  a  loan,  so 
that  he  might  live  in  peace  for  two  or  three  months 
and  study,  until  he  could  again  get  places  to  teach; 


2i6  THE  FAMILY  AT  GILJE 

but  either  he  was  too  sore  and  proud,  or  else  he 
thought  that  I  nger- Johanna  had  a  hand  in  it. 

He  has  certainly  taken  it  very  much  to  heart  that 
the  total  want  of  means  of  existence  has  now  com- 
pelled him  to  give  up  the  school,  which  was  his 
pride,  so  that  }ig  is  now  in  a  certain  way  an  object 
of  ridicule,  and  this  has  capped  the  climax. 

He  goes  about  unoccupied,  so  Jorgen  reports, 
and  asks  for  credit  at  eating-houses  and  restaurants, 
where  he  sits  out  the  evening  and  night. 

I  understood  well  enough  that  it  was  not  just  for 
the  sake  of  her  old  aunt  or  for  the  thing  itself,  but 
to  hear  about  him,  that  Inger-Johanna  sat  with  me 
so  often  and  learned  the  old-fashioned  stitch  with 
pearls  and  gold  thread.  She  was  in  such  an  excited 
condition  and  so  abstracted,  and  jumped  up  when 
Jorgen  came  home  towards  evening  and,  more 's  the 
pity,  as  often  as  not  had  been  looking  for  him  in 
vain  to  read  with  him. 

That  pale,  darkly  brilliant  face  stands  so  before 
me,  Gitta,  with  which  she  one  evening  broke  out: 
"Aunt — Aunt — Aunt  Alette!" 

It  was  like  a  hidden  cry. 

Where  he  is  living  now,  Jorgen  has  not  suc- 
ceeded in  finding  out;  possibly  for  want  of  means 
he  has  been  turned  out  of  his  lodgings. 

I  narrate  all  this  so  much  in  detail,  because  it 
is  to  be  believed  and  hoped  that  the  severest  part 
of  the  crisis,  so  far  as  she  is  concerned,  is  over  now. 


CHAPTER  XII  217 

Since  that  evening,  when  she  felt  that  she  had 
forgotten  herself,  she  has  at  least  not  talked  about 
him,  nor,  as  I  know  certainly,  addressed  a  word  to 
Jorgen.  She  has  evidently  esteemed  his  character 
very  highly,  and  has  now  suffered  a  disappoint- 
ment. 

It  is  not  well  to  be  young  and  have  a  great  deal 
of  life  that  can  suffer.  I  tell  you,  it  is  as  with  your 
teeth;  there  is  no  peace  until  you  have  them  all  in 
your  table  drawer. 

No,   all   this  was    not   anything  for   father.  Ma 
thought. 


Great-Ola  was  standing  with  a  crowbar.  There  was 
a  stone  which  was  to  be  placed  in  the  wall.  But  the 
frozen  crust  of  earth  was  hard,  up  there  on  the 
meadow,  although  the  sun  was  so  roasting  hot  that 
he  was  obliged  to  wipe  his  forehead  with  his  pointed 
cap  every  time  he  rested. 

The  non-commissioned  officers  had  returned  to 
the  office  during  the  forenoon  with  their  pay  in 
their  pockets,  one  after  the  other;  and  that  it  was 
pretty  bad  going  with  holes  in  the  highway  was  evi- 
dent from  their  splashed  carts,  which  were  as  if 
they  had  been  dipped  in  the  mud. 

He  had  just  got  ready  to  put  the  crowbar  under 
again,  when  he  suddenly  stopped.  There  was  some- 


21 8  THE  FAMILY  AT  GILJE 

thing  which  attracted  his  attention — a  cariole  with 
a  post-boy  walking  by  the  side  and  a  little  yellow 
horse  covered  with  mud  up  to  its  belly. 

With  pieces  of  rope  for  reins  and  wound  around 
the  cariole  thills,  the  horse  toiled  up  along  the  Gilje 
hills  in  zigzag,  incessantly  stopping  to  get  breath. 
The  sun  was  burning  hot  down  there  on  the  frozen 
earth. 

The  post  down  from  Drevstad  —  he  knew  both 
the  horse  and  the  lumbering  vehicle. 

It  was  not  that  which  would  have  taken  his  atten- 
tion so  seriously;  but  some  one  was  sitting  in  it — 
a  lady  with  hat  and  veil.  He  did  not  understand — 
that  way  of  carrying  the  head — was  n't  it — 

He  took  two  or  three  slow,  thoughtful  steps, 
then  started  on  the  jump,  and  over  the  wall  with 
a  leap  which  would  have  touched  the  roof-beam 
in  a  high  room. 

"Why,  in  the  Lord's  name,  if  it  is  n't  Inger- 
Johanna  herself!"  he  ejaculated,  as  he  suddenly 
stood  by  the  side  of  the  horse.  "What  will  the 
capt — 

At  the  sight  of  her  he  suddenly  had  a  misgiving 
that  perhaps  everything  might  not  be  so  well. 

"And  such  a  rattle-trap!"  he  said,  recovering 
himself,  "is  that  fit  for  Inger-Johanna?" 

"Good  morning,  Great-Ola,  is  father  at  home, 
and  mother?  No,  I  am  not  so  very  well,  but  shall 
be  better  now." 


CHAPTER  XII  219 

She  became  silent  again, 

Great-Ola  walked  on,  leading  the  horse  by  the 
reins,  when  I nger- Johanna  drove  into  the  yard. 

There  stood  her  father  under  the  painting-lad- 
der, looking  up.  He  suddenly  shaded  his  eyes,  and 
was  at  once  with  her  by  the  cariole. 

"  Inger-Johanna ! " 

She  hugged  him  tightly  out  there,  and  the  cap- 
tain, dreadfully  perplexed,  drew  her  into  the  hall 
to  Ma,  who  was  standing  there  dumb. 

"What  is  the  matter,  what  is  the  matter,  Inger- 
Johanna?"  he  burst  out. 

"Go  in  —  go  into  the  room  a  little,  Jager."She 
knew  how  little  he  could  bear.  "  Let  her  talk  with 
me  first,  and  then  we  will  come  in  to  you — it  is 
surely  not  anything  irreparable." 

"Father,  Ma.^*  Why  should  not  father  under- 
stand me?" 

"Come,  come,  child,"  the  captain  made  haste  to 
say;  he  had  hardly  any  voice  left. 

And  she  sat  down  there  in  the  sitting-room  with 
her  father  by  her  side  on  the  sofa  and  her  mother 
on  a  chair,  and  told  them  how  she  had  fought  and 
striven  to  make  herself  fancy  that  her  life's  task  lay 
with  Ronnow. 

She  had  created  for  herself  a  whole  pile  of  illu- 
sions. 

But  then,  on  one  day  —  and  she  also  knew  which 
one  —  they  became  like  extinguished  lights  for  her 


220  THE  FAMILY  AT  GILJE 

—  black  as  coal  and  empty,  wherever  she  looked — 
not  what  she  had  thought,  not  what  she  meant — 
like  throwing  herself  into  a  desert. 

"And  aunt  insisted  that  I  should  choose  the 
pattern  of  my  wedding  dress.  I  think  I  should  have 
gone  into  it  blindly,  with  my  eyes  shut,  neverthe- 
less ;  for  I  thought  of  you,  father,  what  you  would 
say,  and  of  you,  mother, — and  of  the  whole  world 
outside,  what  it  would  say,  if  I  thus,  without  any 
trace  of  reason,  broke  my  engagement.  And  then 
I  considered  that  everything  was  settled.  I  had 
thrown  myself  into  the  water  and  was  only  sink- 
ing, sinking — I  had  no  right  now  to  do  anything 
else  than  drown.  But  then  — " 

"Well,"  a  short  ominous  cough;  the  captain  sat 
looking  on  the  floor  with  his  hands  on  his  knees. 

"Then,"  resumed  Inger-Johanna  with  a  low 
vpice,  still  paler,  and  violently  impressed  with  her 
subject — "Nay,  there  need  not  be  any  secret  from 
you,  father,  and  you,  mother,  since  you  otherwise 
would  not  understand  me; — it  came  almost  like 
a  flash  of  lightning  upon  me,  that  for  wholly  one 
year,  and  perhaps  for  two,  I  had  had  my  whole 
soul  bound  up  with  another." 

"Who  is  it?" 

"Grip,"  she  whispered. 

The  captain  had  sat  patiently  and  listened  — 
entirely  patiently — till  the  last  word.  But  now  he 
flew  up  and  placed  himself  before  her;  he  struck 


CHAPTER  XII  221 

his  hands  together  on  the  backs,  and  stretched 
them  out,  utterly  without  self-control. 

"  But,  kingdom  of  heaven ! "  he  broke  out  at  last. 
"Where  are  you!  —  What  are  you  thinking  of? 
You  can't  for  a  single  moment  ever  think  of  com- 
paring such  a  —  Grip  with  a  man  like  Ronnow? 
—  I  tell  you,  I nger- Johanna,  your  father  is  abso- 
lutely, totally — you — you  might  just  as  well  rise 
up  and  strike  me  dead  at  once." 

"Listen,  father!"  came  from  Inger-Johanna;  at 
the  same  moment  she  sprang  up  and  stood  before 
him.  "If  Thinka  and  the  others  have  not  saved 
themselves,  no  one  shall  trample  on  me." 

Ma  continued  sitting  with  sharp,  compressed 
face. 

"Such  pure  insanity!"  The  captain  struck  his 
fist  against  his  forehead  and  walked  up  and  down 
the  floor  disconsolately.  "But  now  I  see  it;"  he 
stopped  again,  nodding  to  himself. "You  have  been 
spoiled,  dreadfully  spoiled  —  spoiled,  since  you 
were  little  —  And  then  we  get  it  again,  only  because 
I  think  so  much  of  you." 

"The  whole  world  could  contradict  me,  father. 
I  have  only  my  right  way  to  go — to  do  as  I  have 
done — write  to  Ronnow,  give  full  explanation,  and 
tell  it  to  aunt.  And,"  she  leaned  against  the  sofa  and 
looked  down  bitterly,  as  the  remembrance  came 
over  her,  "aunt  has  done  what  she  could,  I  can  as- 
sure you  —  thought,  as  you  do,  father,  that  it  was 


222  THE  FAMILY  AT  GILJE 

pure  insanity.  She  was  so  fond  of  me  that  she  did 
not  care  how  much  wretchedness  it  was  for  me  if  the 
match  only  came  off.  So  vain  and  young  as  I  was, 
she  thought,  all  she  had  to  do  was  to  get  Grip  cried 
down  and  pursued,  so  that  he  should  stand  with- 
out means,  hemmed  in  on  all  sides  without  any  way 
out,  a  man  made  an  object  of  ridicule,  who  was 
obliged  to  give  up  his  purpose — only  his  father 
over  again.  It  was  so  easily  done,  as  he  fought  for 
his  opinions  unsupported,  and  it  would  be  taken  up 
so  readily,  as  she  knew."  She  stood  there  so  self- 
assured,  tremblingly  lost  in  her  own  thoughts,  with 
downcast  eyes  and  dark  brows.  She  had  become 
thin  and  slim.  "And  now  I  have  come  home  here 
with  more  sorrow  than  I  can  tell  you  or  explain  — 
so  full  of  fear  —  " 

There  was  a  silence  during  which  strange  emo- 
tions were  working  in  the  captain.  "Do  you  say 
that  we  are  not  fond  of  you — will  do  you  harm? 
Well,  then,  perhaps,  I  might  not  consider  it  so 
right  hereafter, what  you  have  done.  I  say  perhaps; 
but  now  I  tell  you  that,  if  you  must  do  it,  then  we 
shall  stand  by  it,  just  as  you  yourself  wish  in 
the  affair.  You  understand  it,  at  all  events.  Why, 
you  have  not  even  sat  down,  child.  Let  her  have 
something  to  eat.  Ma,  at  once." 

He  started  up.  There  was  a  good  deal  to  be  got 
out  of  the  way  in  her  room,  so  she  should  not  see 
that  repairs  were  going  on. 


Chapter  XIII 

THE  captain's  house, freshly  painted  red, stood 
there  on  the  hillside  through  the  summer,  and 
looked  out  over  the  country;  it  had  become  an 
ornament  to  the  district. 

But  Great-Ola  did  not  see  how  it  was.  Since  the 
painting  the  captain  was  not  like  himself,  some  way 
or  other.  It  did  not  have  the  right  good  luck  with  it. 
He  came  out  there  one  time  after  another,  and  for- 
got what  he  came  after,  so  that  he  must  turn  back 
again.  Not  a  bad  word  to  be  heard  from  his  mouth  any 
longer,  far  from  that,  and  he  did  not  box  one's  ears. 

The  captain  did  not  feel  safe  from  dizziness  this 
year.  He  went  about  continually  making  stops,  and 
the  one  who  must  always  go  with  him  on  his  differ- 
ent trips  over  the  grounds,  stop  when  he  stopped 
and  go  when  he  went,  was  Inger-Johanna.  It  was  as 
if  he  seemed  to  find  strength  for  himself  in  her  erect 
carriage,  and  besides  wanted  to  make  sure  that  she 
was  not  going  about  grieving. 

"Do  you  believe  that  she  will  ride  or  drive?" 
he  asked  Ma  out  in  the  pantry.  "She  stands  there 
planting  here  and  there  and  taking  up  and  putting 
down  in  the  garden;  she  is  not  accustomed  to  that 
now,  Ma,  you  see.  It  seems  to  me,  she  is  so  seri- 
ous. But  can  you  imagine  what  will  become  of  her? 
Huh,"  he  sighed.  "Nay,  can  you  imagine  it?"  He 
took   a   ladle   of  whey  out  of  the   tub  —  "Drink 


224  THE  FAMILY  AT  GILJE 

plenty  of  whey,  that  thins  the  blood  and  prolongs 
life,  Rist  says  —  so  that  she  can  be  the  captain's 
daughter  the  longer  here  at  Gilje — I  have  been 
thinking.  Ma,  that  I  am  not  going  down  to  the 
sheriffs  birthday  on  Thursday.  Thinka  is  soon 
coming  up,  and —  Oh,  it  is  good  to  drink  when 
one  is  thirsty." 

On  that  same  above  named  Thursday,  the  cap- 
tain went  about  more  than  commonly  silent  and 
taciturn.  Not  a  syllable  at  the  dinner  table,  from  the 
time  he  sat  down  till  he  rose  again  and  peevishly, 
heavily,  trudged  up  the  stairs  in  order  to  take  his 
after-dinner  nap  as  it  now  should  be,  sitting  and  only 
for  a  moment. 

He  did  not  know  whether  he  had  closed  his  eyes 
or  not;  it  did  n't  matter,  either. 

He  rushed  out  of  the  office  door — "Suppose 
they  are  now  talking  among  themselves,  Scharfen- 
berg  and  the  others.  Just  as  amusing  as  to  run  the 
gauntlet  through  the  whole  country  to  travel  down 
there."  He  stood  absorbed  before  the  great  clothes- 
press  out  in  the  hall,  when  Inger-Johanna  came  up. 
"Will  you  see  something?"  said  he  —  "your  long 
boots  when  you  were  small." 

She  did  not  like  to  go  into  the  housekeeping, 
but  developed  a  great  activity  in  outside  affiiirs.  For 
the  present,  the  garden  must  be  enlarged,  the  beds 
must  be  measured  and  spaded,  and  the  hedge  planted 
for  Thinka's  coming  visit. 


CHAPTER  XIII  225 

With  a  straw  hat  on,  she  was  in  the  garden  from 
early  morning.  There  was  such  peace  in  being  able 
to  work  in  the  fresh  air  and  escaping  from  sitting 
over  the  sewing  and  thinking. 

The  captain  went  about  shrinking  from  the  drill. 

Ma  had  several  times  proposed  to  send  for  Rist ; 
but  now  she  and  Inger-Johanna  in  consultation  de- 
termined really  to  do  so. 

Such  a  calming  down  always  followed  the  doc- 
tor's visits. 

Of  course  he  should  go  to  the  drill-ground.  A 
little  lively  marching  in  rank  and  file  took  off  the 
fat  so  effectually  and  made  the  blood  circulate  as  it 
should.  "  You  have  never  yet  talked  about  your 
head  swimming  when  you  were  in  camp,  Jager.  It 
is  just  the  right  treatment,  if  you  want  to  be  allowed 
a  glass  of  punch  again  on  this  side  of  Christmas." 

While  Giilcke  was  on  the  circuits,  Thinka  came 
up  on  a  visit. 

The  sisters  were  at  home  again  together,  talking 
as  in  the  old  time;  but  neither  of  them  wondered 
any  longer  what  there  might  be  in  the  outside 
world. 

They  knew  that  so  well,  both  of  them. 

He  felt  so  comfortable,  the  captain  said,  when 
he  saw  Thinka  sitting  there  with  her  knitting-work 
and  a  novel,  either  out  on  the  stairs  or  in  the  sitting- 
room. 


226  THE  FAMILY  AT  GILJE 

"She  is  satisfied  with  her  lot  now,  is  n't  she? "  he 
said  to  Ma. 

He  came  back  to  it  so  often;  it  was  as  if  he  had 
a  secret  disquietude  on  that  point.  By  getting  an 
insight  into  the  matter  through  Inger-Johanna,  he 
had  to  a  degree  got  his  eyes  opened,  at  least  to  the 
extent  of  a  suspicion,  as  to  the  possibility  that  a 
woman  could  be  unhappy  in  a  good  match. 

Then,  on  the  other  hand,  his  constant  consola- 
tion was  that  such  as  Inger-Johanna  must  be  excep- 
tional examples  of  humanity — with  her  command- 
ing nature  and  intolerance  of  living  under  any  one's 
thumb. 

But  ordinary  girls  were  not  endowed  with  such 
lofty  feelings  and  thoughts — and  Thinka  was,  as  it 
were,  made  for  giving  way  and  submitting  to  some 
one. 

All  the  same,  the  question  still  lay  and  writhed 
like  a  worm  in  his  stomach. 

"Inger-Johanna!"  said  Thinka  out  on  the  stairs, 
"notice  father,  how  unnerved  he  looks  now,  he  is 
walking  down  there  by  the  garden  fence  —  and  he  is 
all  the  time  forgetting  his  pipe;  it  is  not  halfsmoked 
up  before  it  goes  out." 

"So  you  think  he  is  changed,"  said  Inger-Jo- 
hanna, musing  and  resuming  the  conversation,  up 
in  their  room  in  the  evening.  "Poor  father;  it  is  so 
absolutely  impossible  for  him  to  get  over  it;  I  was 


CHAPTER  XIII  227 

destined  to  be  a  parade  horse.  But  do  you  believe  he 
would  now  demand  it  again  of  any  of  us?" 

"You  are  strong,  Inger-Johanna,  and  I  suppose 
you  are  right.  But  he  has  become  so  good,"  Thinka 
said,  sighing;  "and  it  is  that  which  makes  me  un- 
easy." 

As  the  time  drew  nearer,  he  went  about,  dreading 
more  and  more  to  go  to  the  camp,  so  that  Ma  finally 
began  to  believe  that  perhaps  it  was  not  advisable 
for  him  to  go,  since  he  had  himself  so  little  courage 
or  desire  for  it.  During  the  day,  he  would  walkabout 
quite  alone,  so  that  he  might  come  to  shun  people 
altogether. 

And  the  first  real  gleam  of  light  she  had  seen  for 
a  long  time  on  his  countenance  was  when  she,  not- 
withstanding, proposed  that  he  write  to  the  army 
surgeon  for  a  certificate  of  sickness. 

It  went  on  smoothly  enough  after  it  was  first  set 
in  motion.  And  yet  he  seemed  to  repent  it,  so  to 
speak,  when  his  leave  of  absence  actually  lay  upon 
his  desk. 

He  went  about  annoyed  and  thought  about  them 
all  down  there.  Now  Captain  Vonderthan  would 
naturally  spoil  the  men  on  the  drill-ground;  and 
this  one  and  that  one  was  speculating,  he  supposed, 
even  now,  on  whether  he  would  not  possibly  go 
upon  half  pay.  But  he  would  disappoint  them  by 
lasting  as  long  as  possible,  if  he  should  drink  whey 
the  year  round. 


228  THE  FAMILY  AT  GILJE 

The  time,  which  was  so  absorbing  and  disturb- 
ing to  his  mind,  when  the  drill  was  taking  place,  was 
over  at  last,  and  he  had  already,  through  Ma's  per- 
suasion, by  degrees  reconciled  himself  to  a  possible 
trip  to  the  principal  parish,  when  a  scrap  of  a  letter 
from  Jorgen  was  brought  in  the  mail,  which  put 
them  all  in  great  distress. 

He  could  not  endure  any  longer  to  sit  there  as 
the  poorest  in  his  class,  and  had  shipped  on  board 
a  vessel  which  was  going  to  sail  that  evening  for 
England.  From  there  he  hoped  to  find  some  means 
of  getting  over  to  America,  where  he  would  try  to 
become  a  blacksmith  or  a  wheelwright  or  something 
else.  He  would  not  fail  to  write  home  to  his  dear 
parents  what  his  fate  was. 

"There,  Ma,"  said  the  captain  with  a  deep,  trem- 
bling voice,  when  at  last  he  had  got  over  his  stupe- 
faction a  little,  "  that  Grip  has  been  expensive  for 
us.  It  is  nothing  but  his  teaching." 


The  autumn  was  already  far  advanced.  The  snow 
had  come  and  gone  twice,  and  had  now  been  swept 
off  by  the  wind  from  the  slippery,  hard  frozen  road. 
The  slopes  and  mountains  were  white,  with  red 
and  yellow  tones  of  the  frost-touched  leaves  of  the 
leafy  forest  still  showing  in  many  places,  and  the 
lake  down  below  was  shining  coldly  blue,  ready  to 
freeze  over. 


CHAPTER  XIII  229 

There  was  a  thundering  over  the  country  road 
hard  with  frost,  so  it  waked  the  echoes  in  the  quiet 
October  day;  one  crow  was  standing,  and  another 
started  up  from  the  hedge-post  at  the  sound. 

It  was  the  wheels  of  a  cariole,  and  in  it  was  sit- 
ting, with  a  long  whip  hanging  down  behind  his 
back,  in  cloak  and  large  overshoes,  the  Captain  of 
Gilje. 

He  had  been  ten  miles  down  and  had  his  yearly 
settlement  with  Bardon  Kleven. 

It  is  true,  the  bailiff  had  not  been  willing  to  let 
him  go  out  of  the  house  without  compelling  him  to 
taste  a  little  brandy  in  a  small  tumbler,  with  a  little 
ale  in  addition,  and  a  little  something  to  eat.  But  he 
had  been  prudent.  It  was  almost  the  only  trip  he 
had  made  away  from  home  for  a  long  time,  except 
his  visit  to  the  sheriff. 

Old  Svarten  ran  over  the  long,  flat  stretches  in 
the  heavy,  strong  trot  to  which  he  was  accustomed; 
the  road  showed  that  he  was  sharp  shod  with  full 
caulks.  He  knew  that  he  was  not  to  stop  till  he  had 
done  the  three  miles  to  the  foot  of  the  steep  ascent 
up  the  Gilje  hills. 

It  was  probably  because  he  was  newly  shod,  and 
the  lumps  of  mud  were  so  large  and  were  frozen 
hard;  but  now  he  stumbled. 

It  was  the  first  time  it  had  happened.  Perhaps  he 
felt  it  himself,  for  he  kept  on  at  a  brisker  trot — but 
then  slackened  up  by  degrees.  He  felt  that  the  reins 


230  THE  FAMILY  AT  GILJE 

were  loose  and  slack;  their  folds  fell  longer  and 
longer  down  over  his  shoulders. 

The  whip-lash  hung  down  as  before  over  the 
captain's  back,  only  still  more  slantingly. 

He  had  begun  to  feel  such  cold  shivers,  just  as  if 
he  had  suddenly  got  cold  all  over — and  now  he  had 
become  so  sleepy  —  had  such  a  longing  for  a  nap. 

He  saw  the  reins,  the  ears,  and  the  hanging  mane 
over  the  neck  of  Svarten  nodding  up  and  down 
before  him,  and  the  ground  beneath  him  flying 
away  — 

It  was  just  as  if  a  crow  flew  up  and  made  it  dark 
right  over  his  face ;  but  he  could  not  get  his  arm  up 
to  catch  it — so  let  it  be. 

And  there  stood  the  grain-poles,  Hke  crooked  old 
witches,  crouched  down  —  they  wanted  to  avenge 
themselves — with  straw  forelocks  they  resisted  him 
more  and  more  like  goblins  and  would  forbid  him 
to  get  his  arms  up  to  take  the  reins  and  drive  to 
Gilje.  They  were  swarming  between  heaven  and 
earth,  as  it  were,  swimming,  dancing — were  bright 
and  dark.  Then  there  was  something  like  a  shout  or 
a  crash  from  somewhere.  There  was  Inger-Johanna 
coming — 

Svarten  had  got  the  reins  quite  down  over  his 
forelegs ;  a  little  more  and  he  would  be  stepping  on 
them. 

From  the  gentle  trot,  into  which  he  had  at  last 
fallen,  he  began  to  walk. 


CHAPTER  XIII  231 

Then  he  turned  his  head  round  —  and  remained 
standing  in  the  middle  of  the  road. 

The  whip-lash  hung  down  as  before.  The  captain 
sat  there  immovable  with  his  head  a  little  tipped 
back — 

They  were  still  on  the  level,  and  Svarten  stood 
patiently  looking  toward  the  Gilje  hill,  which  lay 
a  bit  farther  on,  until  he  turned  his  head  round 
again  two  or  three  times  and  looked  into  thecariole. 

Now  he  began  to  paw  on  the  ground  with  one 
forefoot,  harder  and  harder —  so  that  the  lumps  flew 
about. 

Then  he  neighed. 

A  good  hour  later,  in  the  twilight,  there  was  a 
conversation  in  an  undertone  out  in  the  yard,  and 
the  sound  of  cariole  wheels  which  moved  slowly. 

Great-Ola  was  called  down  to  the  gate  by  the 
man  down  yonder  at  the  Sorgaard ;  he  had  met  the 
cariole  with  the  captain  down  in  the  road. 

"  What  is  it  ?"  Ma's  voice  was  heard  to  say  through 
the  darkness  from  the  porch. 


At  the  entrance  of  the  churchyard,  a  week  later,  old 
Svarten  and  young  Svarten  stood  before  an  empty 
sleigh. 

A  salute  before  and  after  the  lowering  into  the 
ground  informed  the  parish  that  here  lay  Captain 
Peter  Wennechen  Jager. 


Chapter  XIV 

A  BOUT  twenty  years  had  passed,  and  the  traffic 
±\_  down  in  the  country  store  and  inn  showed  an 
entirely  different  style  both  in  building  and  goods. 
There  had  also  begun  to  be  a  route  for  travellers 
and  tourists  in  the  summer  up  through  the  valley. 

The  snow  drifted,  so  that  it  lay  high  up  on  the 
steps  this  Sunday  afternoon. 

But  in  the  little  warm  room  behind  the  shop 
there  was  jollity.  He  had  come  up  again,  he,  the  de- 
lightful Grip ;  and  now  he  was  sitting  there  with  the 
shopkeeper,  the  bailifFs  man,  and  the  execution- 
server. 

Only  let  him  get  a  little  something  to  drink. 

"Your  health,  you  old  execution-horse!"  came 
in  Grip's  voice  —  "When  I  think  of  all  those  whom 
you  have  taken  the  skin  off  without  ever  getting 
any  part  in  the  roast,  I  can  get  up  a  kind  of  sym- 
pathy for  you;  we  are  both  of  us  cheated  souls." 

"  Although  I  have  not  acquired  the  learning  and 
sciences" — began  the  gray-headed  man  who  had 
been  spoken  to,  somewhat  irritated  —  "I  insist 
on  —  " 

"  Everything  lawful,  yes  —  oh  —  oh  —  never 
mind  that,  Reierstad.  Consider  that  science  is  the 
sea  of  infinity,  and  a  few  drops  more  or  less  do  not 
count  either  for  or  against.  Just  peep  out  a  little 
into  the  starry  night,  and  you  will  have  a  suspicion 


CHAPTER  XIV  233 

that  the  whole  of  the  planet,  my  friend,  on  which 
you  parade  in  such  a  very  small  crevice,  is  only  one 
pea  in  the  soup — soup,  I  say — it  is  all  the  same. 
Is  n't  that  so,  Mr.  —  Mr.  Simensen  ? " 

He  always  appealed  to  the  shop  boy,  who,  with 
his  small  pig's  eyes,  smiled  very  superciliously  and 
was  evidently  flattered. 

"And  in  regard  to  the  last  information, one  ought 
to  have  a  little  something  to  reinforce  the  oil  in 
the  lamp  with,  Sir." 

It  was  the  execution-server  who  had  stood  treat 
first — a  pint  and  a  half  bottle  of  spirits. 

The  execution-server  had  a  kind  of  ancient  def- 
erential respect  for  Grip.  He  knew  that  he  had  be- 
longed to  the  higher  sphere,  and  that  he  still,  when- 
ever he  liked,  might  show  himself  in  the  houses 
both  of  the  sheriff  and  of  old  Rist,  places  which  he 
never  left  without  improvements  in  his  outfit. 

"  I  will  confide  a  secret  to  you,  Reierstad.  If  you 
are  a  little  of  a  genius,  then  you  must  drink— at 
least  it  was  true  in  my  time.  There  was  great  havoc 
on  that  kind,  you  see,  on  account  of  the  vacuum. 
Did  you  not  notice  something  of  that.''" 

"Hi,  hi,  hi,"  neighed  Simensen. 

"Yes,  you  understand  what  I  mean,  Simensen? 
—  A  good  glass  of  punch  extract  in  this  frost — of 
yours  in  the  shop  —  would  taste  so  good  now, 
would  n't  it?  I  am  not  at  present  flush  of  money; 
but  if  you  will  have  the  goodness  to  put  it  down." 


234  THE  FAMILY  AT  GILJE 

Simensen  caught  the  idea,  of  course.  "  All  right, 
then." 

"As  you  grease  the  wheels,  the  carriage  goes, 
you  know  very  well,  my  dear  Simensen — and, 
well, — there  comes  the  fluid.  —  Do  you  want  to 
know  why  we  drink?" 

"  Oh,  it  can't  be  so  very  difficult  to  fathom  that." 

"No,  no;  but  yet  it  may  perhaps  be  placed  in  a 
higher  light,  which  a  man  like  you  will  not  fail  to 
appreciate — you  know  there  is  a  great  objection  to 
new  illumination  fluids,  besides — you  see,  hm!" 
He  seated  himself  comfortably — "You  live  in  a 
thin  coat  and  cold,  poor  conditions — are  ashamed 
of  yourself  at  heart — feel  that  you  are  sinking  as  a 
man,  day  by  day.  If  there  is  a  discussion,  you  don't 
dare  to  assert  yourself;  if  you  are  placed  at  a  table, 
you  don't  dare  to  speak.  And  then — only  two 
drams  —  two  glasses  of  poor  brandy  for  spectacles 
to  see  through — and  ein^  zwei,  drei,  marsch!  The 
whole  world  is  another! — You  become  yourself, 
feel  that  you  are  in  that  health  and  vigor  which  you 
were  once  intended  for;  your  person  becomes  inde- 
pendent, proud,  and  bold;  the  words  fall  from  your 
lips;  your  ideas  are  bright;  people  admire.  The  two 
glasses — -only  two  glasses  —  I  do  not  refuse,  how- 
ever, the  three,  four,  five,  and  six,  your  health ! 
—  make  the  difference  —  you  know  what  the  differ- 
ence is,  Simensen! — between  his  healthy  and  his 
sick  man,  while  the  man  whom  the  world  struck 


CHAPTER  XIV  235 

down — well,  yes  —  But  the  two  glasses  carry  him 
always  farther — farther — inexorably  farther,  you 
see — until  he  ends  in  the  workhouse.  That  was  a 
big  syllogism." 

"Yes,  it  certainly  was,"  said  Simensen,  nodding 
to  the  execution-server;  "it  took  half  a  bottle  with 
it." 

Grip  sat  there  mumbling. 

The  strong  drink  had  plainly  got  more  and  more 
hold  on  him ;  he  had  been  out  in  the  cold  the  whole 
day.  His  boots  were  wet  and  in  bad  condition.  But 
he  continued  to  drink;  almost  alone  he  had  dis- 
posed of  the  punch  extract. 

"  Come,  come,  don't  sit  there  so  melancholy — or 
there  won't  be  any  more  to  get,"  Simensen  prodded 
him. 

"No,  no  —  no,  no — more  syllogisms,  you  mean 
— something  Reierstad  also  can  understand."  He 
nodded  his  head  in  quiet,  dull  self-communion. 
"  Came  across  an  emaciated,  pale  child,  who  was  cry- 
ing so  utterly  helplessly  down  here.  There  is  much 
that  screams  helplessly — you  know,  Reierstad!  — 
if  one  has  once  got  an  ear  for  the  music,  and  has 
not  a  river  of  tears — there,  you  drink,  drink.  Give 
me  the  bottle." 

"It  were  best  to  get  him  to  bed  over  in  the  ser- 
vants' room,  now,"  suggested  Simensen. 

"Perhaps  the  pig  is  drunk,"  muttered  Grip. 

Monday  morning  he  was  off  again,  before  day- 


236  THE  FAMILY  AT  GILJE 

light,  without  having  tasted  anything;  he  was  shy 
so  early,  before  he  had  got  his  first  dram  to  stiffen 
him  up. 

Grip  had  his  own  tactics.  He  was  known  over 
very  nearly  the  whole  of  the  country  south  of  the 
Dovrefjeld. 

As  he  had  had  fits  of  drinking  and  going  on  a 
spree,  so  he  had  had  corresponding  periods  when 
he  had  lived  soberly  in  the  capital,  studying  and 
giving  instruction.  Again  and  again  he  awoke  the 
most  well-grounded  hopes  in  his  few  old  comrades 
and  friends  who  remained  there,  A  man  with  such  a 
talent  for  teaching  and  such  a  remarkable  gift  for 
grasping  the  roots  of  words  and  the  laws  of  lan- 
guage, not  only  in  Greek  and  Latin,  but  right  up 
into  the  Sanscrit,  might  possibly  even  yet  attain  to 
something.  Based  on  his  total  abstinence  for  three 
and  four  months  and  his  own  strong  self-control, 
they  would  already  begin  to  speak  of  bringing  about 
his  installation  at  some  school  of  a  higher  grade, 
when  all  at  once,  unexpectedly,  it  was  again  re- 
ported that  he  had  disappeared  from  the  city. 

Then  he  would  pop  up  again  after  the  lapse  of 
some  weeks  —  entirely  destitute,  in  one  of  the 
country  districts,  shaking  and  thin  and  worn  from 
drink,  from  exposure,  from  lying  in  outhouses  and 
in  haylofts,  seldom  undressed  and  in  a  proper  bed. 

Along  in  the  afternoon  he  appeared  at  the  sher- 
iff's house. 


CHAPTER  XIV  237 

Giilcke  was  the  only  one  of  the  functionaries  of 
his  time  who  still  kept  his  office,  after  Rist  had  left. 
He  was  still  there,  nursed  by  a  careful  wife,  who 
had  ever  surrounded  him  with  a  padding  of  pillows, 
visible  and  invisible. 

Grip  knew  what  he  was  doing;  he  wanted  to  find 
the  mistress,  while  the  sheriff  was  in  his  office. 

She  was  sitting  in  an  easy  chair  snugly  behind 
the  double  windows  in  the  sitting-room  with  her 
knitting-work  and  "The  Wandering  Jew  before  her, 
while  her  clever  sister  Thea,  an  unmarried  woman 
now  in  the  thirties,  was  looking  after  the  dinner  out 
in  the  kitchen. 

Thinka  took  the  care  of  the  house  upon  herself 
after  Miss  Giilcke's  death,  and  was  her  old  hus- 
band's support  and  crutch  unweariedly  the  whole 
twenty-four  hours  together. 

And  these  greasy,  worn  books  of  fiction  from 
the  city,  with  numbers  on  their  backs,  were  the 
little  green  spot  left  for  her  to  pass  her  own  life  on. 

Like  so  many  other  women  of  those  times,  to 
whom  reality  had  not  left  any  other  escape  than 
to  take  any  man  who  could  support  her,  she  lived 
in  these  novels  —  in  the  midst  of  the  most  harshly 
creaking  commonplaces — a  highly  strained  life  of 
fancy.  There  she  imagined  the  passions  she  herself 
might  have  had.  There  were  loves  and  hates,  there 
were  two  noble  hearts  —  in  spite  of  everything — 
happily  united;  or  she  consoled  picturesque  he- 


238  THE  FAMILY  AT  GILJE 

roes,  who  in  despair  were  gazing  into  the  billows. 

There — in  the  clouds — was  continued  the  life 
with  its  unquenchable  thirst  of  the  heart  and  of 
the  spirit  for  which  reality  had  not  given  any  firm 
foothold —  and  there  the  matronly  figure  which  had 
become  somewhat  large,  cozily  round  and  plump, 
and  which  was  once  the  small,  slender  Thinka, 
transferred  her  still  unforgotten  Aas  from  one 
heroic  form  to  another — from  Emilie  Carlen  to 
James,  from  Walter  Scott  to  Bulwer,  from  Alex- 
ander Dumas  to  Eugene  Sue. 

There  in  her  domestic,  bustling  sister's  place  lay 
the  sewing,  with  a  ray  of  sunshine  on  the  chair. 

The  dark  inlaid  sewing-table  was  Thea's  inher- 
itance from  Ma.  And  the  silver  thimble,  with  the 
shell  old  and  worn  thin  inside  and  out,  broken  and 
cracked  at  the  top  and  on  the  edges,  she  used  and 
saved,  because  her  mother  had  used  it  all  her  time. 
It  stood,  left  behind  like  a  monument  to  Ma — to 
all  the  weary  stitches  —  and  pricks  —  of  her  honor- 
ably toiling,  self-sacrificing — shall  we  call  it  life? 

It  was  more  at  a  pressure  than  by  regularly 
knocking  that  the  door  to  the  sitting-room  was 
opened,  and  Grip  cautiously  entered. 

"You,  Grip?  No,  no,  not  by  the  door,  sit  down 
up  there  by  the  window.  Then  my  sister  will  get 
you  a  little  something  to  eat, —  oh,  you  can  man- 
age to  eat  a  little  bread  and  butter  and  salt  meat, 
can't  you?  Well,  so  you  are  up  this  way.  Grip?" 


CHAPTER  XIV  239 

"Seeking  a  chance  to  teach,  I  may  say,  Mrs. 
Giilcke,"  was  the  evasive  reply.  "I  am  told  you  have 
heard  from  Jorgen  over  in  America,"  he  hastily 
added,  to  get  away  from  the  delicate  subject. 

"Yes,  just  think:  Jorgen  is  a  well-to-do,  rich 
manager  of  a  machine-shop  over  in  Savannah.  He 
has  now  written  two  letters  and  wants  to  have  his 
eldest  sister  come  over;  but  Inger-Johanna  is  not 
seeking  for  happiness  any  more — "  she  added  with 
a  peculiar  emphasis. 

There  was  a  silence. 

Grip,  with  a  very  trembling  hand,  placed  the  plate 
of  bread  and  butter,  which  the  maid  had  brought, 
on  the  sewing-table.  He  had  drunk  the  dram  on  the 
side  of  the  plate.  There  was  a  twitching  about  his  lips. 

"It  gives  me  pleasure,  exceeding  great  plea- 
sure," he  uttered  in  a  voice  which  he  controlled  with 
difficulty.  "You  see,  Mrs.  Gulcke,  that  Jorgen  has 
amounted  to  something  I  count  as  one  of  the  few 
rare  blades  of  grass  that  have  grown  up  out  of  my 
poor  life." 

Sleigh-bells  sounded  out  in  the  road;  a  sleigh 
glided  into  the  yard. 

"The  judge's,"  Thinka  said. 

Grip  comprehended  that  he  would  not  be  wanted 
just  now,  and  rose. 

Thinka  hastened  out  into  a  side  room  and  came 
in  again  with  a  dollar  bill  —  "Take  it,  Grip — a  little 
assistance  till  you  get  some  pupils." 


240  THE  FAMILY  AT  GILJE 

His  hand  hesitated  a  little  before  he  took  it. 
"One^ — must — must — "  He  seized  his  cap  and 
went  out. 

Down  by  the  gate  he  stopped  a  little,  and  looked 
back.  The  window  had  been  thrown  open  there. 

"Airing  out  after  Grip,"  he  muttered  bitterly, 
while  he  took  the  direction  of  the  valley,  with  his 
comforter  high  up  around  his  neck  and  his  cap, 
which  down  in  the  main  parish  had  replaced  his 
old,  curled  up  felt  hat,  down  over  his  ears ;  in  the 
cold  east  wind  he  protected  his  hands  in  the  pockets 
of  his  old  thin  coat,  which  was  flapping  about  his 
emaciated  form. 

It  was  not  an  uncommon  route,  whither  he  went 
over  the  mountains  in  his  widely  extended  rambles 
in  the  summer,  or,  as  now,  in  the  short,  dark  mid- 
winter, when  he  was  obliged  to  confine  himself  to 
the  highway. 

This  country  district  had  an  attraction  for  him, 
as  it  were;  he  listened  and  watched  everywhere  he 
came  for  even  the  least  bit  of  what  he  could  catch  up 
about  Inger-Johanna,  while  he  carefully  avoided 
her  vicinity. 

"The  young  lady  of  Gilje,"  as  she  was  called, 
lived  in  a  little  house  up  there,  which  she  had 
bought  with  one  of  the  four  thousand  dollars  that 
old  Aunt  Alette  had  given  to  her  by  will. 

She  kept  a  school  for  the  children  of  the  region. 


CHAPTER  XIV  241 

and  read  with  those  of  the  captain,  the  newly  set- 
tled doctor,  and  the  bailiff. 

And  now  she  had  many  boys  to  care  for,  whom 
she  had  got  places  in  the  country  round  about, 
while  in  the  course  of  years  she  had  striven  to  put 
several  young  geniuses  from  the  neighborhood  in 
the  way  of  getting  on  down  in  the  cities. 

She  was  imperious,  and  gave  occasion  for 
people's  talk  by  her  unusually  independent  con- 
duct; but  to  her  face  she  met  pure  respect.  Sh^  was 
still,  at  her  fortieth  year,  delicate  and  slender,  with 
undiminished,even  if  more  quiet,  fire  in  her  eyes, 
and  hair  black  as  a  raven. 

She  sought  for  talents  in  the  children  like  four- 
leaved  clover  on  the  hills,  as  she  was  said  to  have 
expressed  it;  and  when  Grip,  down  at  Thinka's, 
talked  of  Jorgen's  happy  escape  from  his  sur- 
roundings as  one  of  the  few  green  leaves  in  his  life, 
he  then  suppressed  the  most  secret  thought  he 
cherished,  that  her  little  school  was  an  offshoot 
propagated  by  his  ideas. 

In  the  twilight  the  next  afternoon  a  form  stole  up 
to  the  fence  around  her  schoolroom — the  longing 
to  catch,  if  possible,  a  glimpse  of  her  drove  him 
nearer  and  nearer. 

Now  he  was  standing  close  to  the  window. 

An  obscure  form  now  and  then  moved  before  it. 


242  THE  FAMILY  AT  GILJE 

An  uncertain  gleam  was  playing  about  in  there 
from  the  mouth  of  the  stove.  The  lamp  was  not 
yet  lighted,  and  he  heard  the  voice  of  a  boy  recit- 
ing something  which  he  had  learned  by  heart,  but 
did  not  know  well;  it  sounded  like  verse — it  must 
be  the  children  from  the  captain's  house. 

The  entry  door  was  open,  and  a  little  later  he 
was  standing  in  it,  listening  breathlessly. 

He  heard  her  voice  —  her  voice. 

"Recite  it,  Ingeborg- — boys  are  so  stupid  in 
such  things." 

It  was  a  poem  from  the  Norwegian  history. 
Ingeborg's  voice  came  clearly: 

And  that  was  young  ^ueen  Gyda^ 
The  jiower  in  King  Harald's  spring — 
Walks  yet  so  proud  a  maiden 
Over  the  mountain  ling? 

Highborn  was  she  and  haughty^ 
Her  seat  she  would  not  share ; 
The  Hordaland  damsels  away  she  sent^ 
And  the  Rogaland  girls  must  fare. 

She  willed  a  kingdom  united 

To  the  outermost  skerrie  bare^ 

A  king  for  a  queen^  the  whole  of  a  man 

For  a  maid  —  and  none  to  share. 

He  stood  as  if  rooted  to  the  floor,  until  he  heard 
Inger-Johanna  say,"  I  will  now  light  the  lamp, and 
give  you  your  lessons  for  to-morrow." 


CHAPTER  XIV  243 

Immediately  he  was  away  before  the  window. 

He  saw  her  head  in  the  glow  of  the  lamp  just 
lighted — that  purity  in  the  shape  of  her  eyebrows 
and  in  the  Hnes  of  her  face — that  unspeakably 
beautiful,  serious  countenance,  only  even  more 
characteristically  stamped — that  old  erect  bearing 
with  the  tall,  firm  neck. 

It  was  a  picture  which  had  stood  within  him  all 
these  years — of  her  who  should  have  been  his  if  he 
had  attained  to  what  he  ought  to  have  attained  in 
life — if  it  had  offered  him  what  it  should  have — 
and  if  he  himself  had  been  what  he  ought  to  have 
been. 

He  stood  there  stupefied  as  if  in  a  dizzy  intoxi- 
cation— and  then  went  away  with  long  strides, 
when  he  heard  the  children  coming  out  into  the 
entry. 

His  feet  bore  him  without  his  knowing  it. 

Now  he  was  far  down  the  Gilje  hills,  and  the 
moonlight  began  to  shine  over  the  ridges.  He  still 
hurried  on  ;  his  blood  was  excited;  he  saw — almost 
talked  with  her. 

A  sleigh  came  trotting  slowly  behind  him  with 
the  bells  muffled  by  the  frost. 

It  was  old  Rist,whowas  sitting  nodding  in  his  fur 
coat,  exhausted  by  what  he  had  enjoyed  at  Gilje. 

"If  you  are  going  over  the  lake.  Grip,  jump  on 
behind,"  he  said  by  way  of  salutation,  after  looking 
at  him  a  little. 


244  THE  FAMILY  AT  GILJE 

"I  tell  youjif  you  could  only  leave  off  drinking," 
he  began  to  admonish — 

Before  the  lamp  thus — it  ran  in  Grip's  thoughts 
— she  set  the  milky  shade  slowly  down  over  the 
chimney,  and  a  gleam  passed  over  her  delicate 
mouth  and  chin —  the  dark,  closely  fitting  dress  — 
and  the  forehead,  while  she  bowed  her  magnificent 
head — she  looked  up — straight  towards  the  win- 
dow— 

"And  if  you  will  only  try  to  resist  it — at  the  time 
the  fit  comes  on — which  is  the  same  as  the  very 
Satan  himself." 

Grip  was  not  inclined  to  hear  any  more,  and  it 
was  cold  to  hang  on  over  the  lake. 

He  jumped  off  and  let  old  Rist  continue  his  talk 
in  the  idea  that  he  was  standing  behind  him. 

It  was  a  cold,  biting  wind  out  on  the  ice. 

For  a  while  he  saw  his  own  shadow,  with  his 
hands  in  his  coat  jxjckets,  moving  away,  while  the 
moon  sailed  through  the  clouds — the  lamp  shone 
so  warmly  on  her  face — 


Three  days  afterwards,  towards  evening,  Inger- 
Johanna  stood  at  the  window  looking  out.  Her 
breast  heaved  with  strong  emotion. 

Grip  had  died  of  pneumonia  down  at  the  Lov- 
viggaard. 

She  had  been  down  and  taken  care  of  him  till 


CHAPTER  XIV  245 

now  she  had  come  home — talked  with  him,  heard 
herself  live  in  his  wild  raving,  and  had  received  his 
last  intelligent  look  before  it  was  quenched.  .  .  . 

The  moon  was  so  cold  and  clear  in  the  heavens. 
The  whole  landscape  with  the  mountains  and  all 
the  great  pure  forms  shone  magically  white  in  the 
frost — white  as  in.  the  snow-fields  of  the  lofty 
mountains.  .  .  . 

"  The  power  of  the  spirit  is  great,"  she  said,  sigh- 
ing in  sorrowful,  yet  trembling  meditation — "he 
gave  me  something  to  live  on." 


THE    END 


PUBLICATIONS  OF 
THE  AMERICAN-SCANDINAVIAN  FOUNDATION 

COMMITTEE  ON   PUBLICATIONS 
William  Henry  Schofield,  Professor  of  Comparative  Literature  in 
Harvard  University,  Chairman 

William  Witherle  Lawrence,  Professor  of  English  in  Columbia 
University 

Charles  S.  Peterson,  Publisher,  Chicago 

Henry  Goddard  Leach,  Secretary  of  the  Foundation 


SCANDINAVIAN  CLASSICS 

I.  Comedies  by  Holberg:  Jeppe  of  the  Hill,  '^he  Politi- 
cal T'inker,  Erasmus  Montanus 

Translated  by  Oscar  James  Campbell,  Jr.  ,  and  Frederic  Schenck 

II.  Poems  by  T'egner:  T'ke  Children  of  the  Lord's  Sup- 
per and  Frithiofs  Saga 

Translated  by  Henry  Wadsworth  Longfellow  and  W.  Lew- 
ERY  Blackley 

III.  Poejns  and  Songs  by  Bjornstjerne  Bjornson 
Translated  in  the  original  metres,  with  an  Introduction  and  Notes, 
by  Arthur  Hubbell  Palmer 

IV.  Master  Olof  by  August  Strindberg 

An  historical  play,  translated,  with  an  Introduction,  by  Edwin 
Bjorkman 

V.  '^h£  Prose  Edda  by  Snorri  Sturluson 

Translated  from  old  Icelandic,  with  an  Introduction  and  Notes, 
by  Arthur  Gilchrist  Brodeur 


VI.  Modern  Icelandic  Plays  by  Johann  Sigurjonsson: 
Eyvind  of  the  Hills  and  I'he  Hraun  Farm 

Translated  by  Henninge  Krohn  Schanche 

VII.  Marie  Gruhhe:  A  Lady  of  the  Seventeenth  Cen- 
tury by  y.  P.  Jacobsen 

An  historical  romance,  translated,  with  an  Introduction,  by  Hanna 
AsTRUp  Larsen 

VIII.  Arnljot  Gelline  by  Bjornstjerne  Bjornson 
A  Norse  epic,  translated  by  William  Morton  Payne 

IX.  Anthology  of  Swedish  Lyrics,  from  i/^o  to  igi^ 

Selections  from  the  greatest  of  Swedish  lyrists,  translated  by 
Charles  Wharton  Stork 

X  0  XI.  Gbsta  Berlin g^s  Saga  by  Selma  Lagerlof 
The  English  translation  of  Lillie  Tudeer,  completed  and  care- 
fully edited 

XII.  Sara  Videbeck  (Detgdr  an),  and  I'he  Chapel,  by 
C.  J.  L.  Almquist 

A  Sentimental  Journey  with  a  practical  ending,  and  the  Tale  of 
a  Curate,  translated,  with  an  Introduction,  by  Adolph  Burnett 
Benson 

XIII.  Niels  Lyhne  by  J.  P.  Jacobsen 

A  psychological  novel,  translated  by  Hanna  Astrup  Larsen 

XIV.  '^he  Fafnily  at  Gilje:  A  Domestic  Story  of  the 
Forties,  by  Jonas  Lie 

Translated  by  Samuel  Coffin  Eastman,  with  an  Introduction  by 
Julius  Emil  Olson 


XV  &  XVI.  T'he  Charles  Men  by  Ferner  von  Het- 
denstam 

Tales  from  the  exploits  of  Charles  XII,  translated  by  Charles 
Wharton  Stork,  with  an  Introduction  by  Fredrik  Book 

Price  $2.00  each 

THE  SCANDINAVIAN  MONOGRAPHS 

I.  '^he  Voyages  of  the  Norsemen  to  America 

A  complete  exposition,  with  illustrations  and  maps,  by  William 

HOVGAARD 

Price  $poo 

II.  Ballad  Criticism  in  Scandinavia  and  Great  Brit' 
ain  during  the  Eighteenth  Century 

A  comparative  study,  by  Sigurd  Bernard  Hustvedt 
Price  $J.OO 

III.  '^e  King's  Mirror 

A  famous  treatise,  translated  from  the  Norwegian  of  the  Thir- 
teenth Century,  with  an  Historical  Introduction,  by  Laurence 
Marcellus  Larson 

Price  $j.oo 

IV.  I'he  Heroic  Legends  of  'Denmark 

Revised  and  expanded  for  this  edition  by  the  author,  the  late  Axel 
Olrik,  in  collaboration  with  the  translator,  Lee  M.  Hollander 

Price  $^.00 

In  Preparation 

V.  A  History  of  Scandinavian  Art 

By  Carl  G.  Laurin  of  Sweden,  Emil  Hannover  of  Denmark, 
and  Jens  Thus  of  Norway  ;  with  a  foreword  by  Christian  Brin- 


THE  AMERICAN-SCANDINAVIAN  REVIEW 

An  Illustrated  Magazine,  presenting  the  progress 

of  life  and  literature  in  Sweden,  Denmark,  and 

Norway 

Price  $2.00  a  year 

For  information  regarding  the  above  publications,  address 
the 

Secretary  of  the  American-Scandinavian 

Foundation 

25  West  45th  Street,  New  York  City 


UC.SB   LIBRARY 


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